


Though You Try to Hide

by Happy_Days19



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-08-07 17:00:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 24
Words: 36,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16412396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy_Days19/pseuds/Happy_Days19
Summary: Do people really change? Maybe, but more than that, with time, they let their true selves shine through whatever mask they have created for themselves.A collection of related one-shots showcasing the evolution of Zoe and Madison's relationship.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Quite a few of these one-shots are based off prompts from a post by swlbarnes on Tumblr. Thanks for the inspiration!
> 
> CW: Mention of rape

Twisting two strands of her hair behind her head, Zoe studied herself in the mirror. She wanted to look nice today, even if there was nothing special to look good for. Turning her head slightly, she stared at her reflection. She had never considered herself to be beautiful, or at least not in the way people like Madison were. She was fine looking, but she wasn’t anything special in her opinion.

Giving herself the okay, she put away all of her hair supplies and wandered into her and Madison’s room. She paused at her nightstand, picking up the two books that had been sitting there. Both were new, and she wasn’t sure which one she wanted to read first. They both looked promising, so she just had to pick one.

Pulled out of her musings by a harsh cough, Zoe looked over at her roommate’s bed. Madison was curled up in a small ball with a mountain of blankets on top of her. The blankets seemed to be trembling, and another loud cough came from the bed. Zoe hadn’t ever seen Madison sick, and she wondered what she could expect for a personality change. Maybe Madison would be one of those people who got super whiny and demanding when they were sick. After all, she was pretty demanding in her day-to-day life.

Zoe continued staring at Madison’s bed, wondering if she should go see if Madison needed anything. It did suck to be sick. Before she decided anything, Madison suddenly kicked all of her covers off and sat up.

“Ugh, did you turn the temperature all the way up in here or something?” she asked weakly, ending with a cough. “My fricking everything is sweating.” She was drenched in sweat and looked even paler than usual.

“I didn’t touch the temperature. Are you okay, Madison?” Zoe asked, moving over to stand beside Madison’s bed.

“Just dandy. There’s nothing wrong with me. It’s just a little warm in here,” Madison said in clipped sentences, moving to sit at the edge of the bed. Zoe put her hand on Madison’s forehead, trying to feel if she had a fever. Madison pulled away as fast as she could, but Zoe had already felt that she was way hotter than she should be.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Madison hissed, glaring at Zoe. Zoe would have been more scared if Madison hadn’t sent herself into a coughing fit.

“Madison, you’re burning up!” Zoe countered. “I’m going to go get Cordelia,” she said, turning toward the door.

“No, you won’t!” Madison protested, grabbing Zoe by the wrist. Zoe could feel the heat radiating from Madison’s hand, and it worried her. She didn’t know how to deal with sick people, and she didn’t know just how sick Madison was. She knew that fevers could be bad if they got too high, and she didn’t want anything bad to happen to Madison.

“I’m totally fine. See, I’m going to the bathroom,” Madison said, standing up. Of course, she almost toppled over as soon as she stood up. Zoe grabbed on to try to steady her, but Madison shook her off quickly. “I don’t need your help,” she insisted.

“Twenty bucks says you’ll pass out before you make it halfway across the room,” Zoe said. Madison seemed set on getting up and proving Zoe wrong, and Zoe was worried about leaving her to go get Cordelia. If she left while Madison was up and something happened, she would feel terrible. Zoe had definitely been wrong earlier when she had thought Madison would be the whiny and demanding type when she got sick. She was one of the people who pushed through everything and ended up worse because they couldn’t admit that they weren’t fine. Thinking more about it, Zoe decided that it did make sense. After all, Madison detested showing weakness, and sickness was just a form of weakness.

Zoe followed Madison closely as the blonde witch made her way across the room, wanting to be there if something happened. She wasn’t sure what she would be able to do if something happened, but at least she would be there. Luckily, Madison made it to the bathroom with only a few coughing fits along the way, but as soon as she walked through the door, she sunk down to the ground.

“See? Told you I could make it,” Madison said from the floor. She was shaking even more than before, and her color looked even worse. Concerned, Zoe looked at her closely. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t just leave her there. She put her hand on Madison’s forehead again. Surprisingly, Madison didn’t pull away like she had before, actually leaning into Zoe’s hand a little.

The amount of heat coming off of Madison was really starting to worry Zoe. She figured that she needed to do something to cool Madison off quickly, even if Madison didn’t like it. Looking around, Zoe decided that putting Madison in the shower would be the best idea. She remembered reading something about making sure the water wasn’t cold, but lukewarm, so she turned the water to what she thought the right temperature would be.

“Madison, I need you to get in the tub,” Zoe said gently, trying to figure out how she was supposed to do this. Madison was only dressed in short shorts and a tank top, so she figured it would be okay for her to stay in that, but she didn’t trust Madison in her current state to be in the tub alone.

“I need you to stay here for a second first, though,” she said, taking the slight nod and cough as confirmation. Zoe ran into her room and quickly changed into a t-shirt and shorts before returning to Madison. To her relief, Madison was exactly where she left her.

“Okay, come on, Madison,” Zoe said, trying to get Madison up and into the tub. All she got in response was a small whine. “Come on, Madi, you can do it,” she coaxed. Unfortunately, it looked like Madison was done moving herself for the moment. Taking a deep breath, Zoe lifted Madison into her arms and set her gently into the tub, letting the shower stream run over her. Zoe knew that Madison was tiny, but she was surprised at just how little Madison weighed. That was something to think about later, when she didn’t have a feverish Madison in front of her.

Climbing into the tub behind Madison to help support her, Zoe wondered what she was supposed to do next. Madison still felt really warm as she leaned back against Zoe, but as a few minutes passed, Zoe thought she felt slightly cooler. Surprisingly quiet throughout the whole ordeal, Madison had her eyes closed. Zoe wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep or not, but she figured that Madison was safe as long as she was there to support her. Deciding that they had been in the water long enough, Zoe brushed some hair off of Madison’s face.

“Madison? It’s time to get out now,” she whispered. Shutting off the water, Zoe helped the slightly more compliant Madison stand up and get out of the tub. She wrapped the blonde in a towel and slowly led her back to Madison’s bed. Zoe was dreading what she needed to do next, because she knew that she couldn’t let Madison sit in her wet clothes.

“We need to change you into dry clothes,” she said hesitantly. She felt really awkward about undressing Madison, and she knew that Madison probably had some reservations about letting people help her with that kind of thing, especially with what had happened to her. Zoe grabbed some clean clothes from Madison’s drawer and set them her.

“Do you think you can get changed yourself?” Zoe asked, trying to figure out if Madison was with it enough to get herself dressed. All she got in response was a couple of coughs, so she figured she would have to help Madison.

“Okay, I’m going to change your shirt now,” she said, trying not to freak out. She started pulling up on the hem on Madison’s shirt, but that seemed to wake something up in the blonde. Unfortunately, Madison did not react well. Frantically looking around the room with unfocused eyes, Madison started batting Zoe’s hands away frantically, repeating “no, no, no” over and over. Zoe stopped right away, removing her hands completely.

“Madison, Madison!” Zoe said, trying to get her attention. “Hey, look at me.” Eventually, Madison calmed down and looked Zoe in the eyes. It seemed like her eyes were slightly more focused, so Zoe tried to explain what they needed to do again.

“Hey, it’s okay, Madison. You are in wet clothes right now from the shower you took to help lower your temperature, so you need to change into dry clothes. Can you do that, or do you need some help?” Zoe asked carefully, tying to make sure Madison understood that she meant no harm.

Madison blinked a few times before pulling her wet shirt off. Zoe quickly averted her eyes and handed Madison the dry shirt and shorts. Keeping her eyes anywhere but Madison, Zoe waited patiently until she heard a soft, “okay”. Looking back at Madison, Zoe was glad to see that Madison was dressed in the dry clothes.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you earlier,” Zoe said carefully, wanting to make sure Madison knew that she was safe with her.

“’M fine,” Madison mumbled. “You’re fine. No, better than fine. You’re pretty.” Madison’s eyes were glazed over with fever, but she gave Zoe a small smile. Zoe was taken aback, but she chalked Madison’s comment up to the fever. She figured that they were okay, though.

Zoe helped Madison lay down and covered her with a thin sheet, not wanting her to get too warm from all the blankets. Madison had another coughing fit, but seemed to be pretty comfortable otherwise. Zoe sat at the edge of her bed for a minute, wanting to make sure Madison wasn’t going anywhere, but it seemed like Madison fell into a restless sleep. Zoe slipped out the door quietly, wanting to get Madison some water and needing to tell Cordelia that Madison was sick.

Maybe Madison could be a mean bitch when she was awake and healthy, but seeing this side of Madison was something Zoe didn’t get to experience much. Madison hid everything she perceived as weakness, but sometimes it was nice to see that the blonde was real and dealt with the things everyone else did too. Not to say that Zoe liked seeing Madison sick, but she liked seeing beyond the mask that Madison wore every day. She just hoped Madison would feel better soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Turning the corner, Zoe wished she could disappear right back down the hallway. Of course, when Madison and Cordelia were going at it, turning around probably wasn’t going to work. It would definitely be smarter to just turn around and pretend like she hadn’t seen anything, but she supposed she should go try to get to the bottom of whatever useless quarrel was happening at the moment.

Madison was in her characteristic “couldn’t-care-less” pose, scrolling through her phone. Cordelia, looking highly annoyed, appeared to be trying to tell her something. Scenes like these were relatively common when Madison was involved, but they still frustrated the occupants of the house to no end.

“Madison, are you even listening to me? For the last time, you can’t just go around smoking everywhere, especially inside! It is bad for the people and the environment, and-” Cordelia cut off with a splutter, as Madison had turned and walked away from her in the middle of the conversation.

“You can’t just walk away in the middle of a conversation! I was talking-”

“Well, you were boring me to death! Walking away is a survival instinct. Besides, if my smoking is harmful, your lectures sure are too. What are you gonna do, huh?” Madison retorted, spinning on her heel to face the older woman again.

Zoe decided that this would be a prime time to intervene. She was pretty sure that she wasn’t the only one who would appreciate avoiding another shouting match in the hallway. Zoe knew that Cordelia and Madison really did care about each other deep down, but Madison loved antagonizing Cordelia so much that their interactions seemed to end in a huff more often than not. Zoe also thought that sometimes Cordelia simply didn’t know how to handle the handful that was Madison Montgomery.

“Hey, Madison,” she interjected, coming up alongside the pair. “I was just looking for you so we could finish that thing.” It sounded lame, even to her, but she was just hoping that it would work. If it distracted the two of them, it didn’t matter how bad her excuse was.

“Hey, don’t you have to go be stupid somewhere else?” Madison shot back, glaring at her.

“Not until three. That means we have… four hours to work,” Zoe countered, a grin on her face. “Now, come on,” she said, dragging Madison away by her elbow.

“Oh, Cordy?” Madison called as she was being pulled away, “Maybe you should go hang out in your greenhouse some more. The plants like it when you waste your breath talking nonsense.”

Zoe rolled her eyes as she continued to drag Madison toward their room, looking back at Cordelia with an apologetic glance. Madison had started muttering obscenities under her breath as they made their way down the hall, but at least she wasn’t putting up much of a resistance to Zoe’s redirection. 

“Was that really necessary?” Zoe asked with a small huff.

“Necessary? No. Hilarious? Absolutely,” Madison said with an unimpressed huff. “Someone needs to put the bitch in her place every once in a while.”

“Eh, not really your best work,” Zoe smirked. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to antagonize an already slightly pissed off Madison, but she couldn’t resist.

“Like you could do better, bitch. Now, I know we don’t have any ‘thing’ to finish, so how about you let go of me,” Madison scoffed, pulling her arm out of Zoe’s grasp and reaching for her cigarettes. 

“Didn’t Cordelia just ask you not to do that?” Zoe asked, plucking the cigarettes out of Madison’s grasp. Madison sighed, grabbed one of the cigarettes from Zoe’s hand, and stomped off until she reached the yard.

Zoe didn’t know why, but she ended up following Madison. Leaning against the railing, Madison was looking out at the street.

“You know, Cordelia would probably be a little nicer if you didn’t try to push all her buttons. But she’s right, smoking is bad for you,” Zoe said, coming up to lean next to Madison. 

“Whatever. I’ve put enough shit in my body that it probably can’t tell anymore. And it’s so much fun to mess with Cordelia. Almost as fun as messing with you,” she smirked, turning around to come face to face with Zoe.

“W-what do you mean?” Zoe asked, stepping back half a step.

“Like when you first came here, you were just so precious when we scared you. Of course, you overreacted a bit, but well, you don’t disappoint when I screw with you just to get a rise,” Madison smirked.

Zoe scowled. She didn’t love that the tables had been turned on her, especially when she had just been trying to help in the first place. Madison was right, though. She did tend to overreact sometimes, but she hated admitting it. 

“I did not overreact!” Zoe scoffed, looking anywhere but Madison’s face.

“See, it’s just too easy to get a rise out of you. I don’t even have to try,” Madison said, laughing. She moved closer to Zoe, getting right up in her face. Zoe wasn’t sure how she was supposed to react, but she sure as hell wasn’t backing down this time. Madison was being so frustrating, and she knew that the she was just trying to get a bigger rise out of her.

She couldn’t explain why she did what she did next, but she closed the short gap between them and kissed Madison. She wasn’t sure who was more surprised, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t Madison. Zoe pulled back abruptly, blinking.

“Um, that… I’m sorry?” Zoe stuttered out, hoping that Madison wouldn’t hate her forever. It wasn’t like she hadn’t imagined doing that before, but she had never expected to act on those impulses like this. She was beet red and wanted to sink into the ground.

“Well, it wasn’t the worst kiss I’ve ever had. Maybe we just need to practice some more,” Madison muttered, walking away.

“I heard that,” Zoe called after her, not having fully processed Madison’s words.

“You were meant to!” came Madison’s reply, and Zoe could hear the smirk in her statement.


	3. Chapter 3

Heavy footsteps pounded down the hall as Zoe rushed toward her room. She just wanted to make it back to her room without encountering anyone so she could go cry on her bed, uninterrupted. It had been a horrible, horrible day, and she was more than ready for it to be over. Luckily, it seemed like the fates were on her side for at least one thing, as she made it to her room unnoticed.

Of course, as soon as she threw open the door and collapsed on her bed, her luck ran out. It was just her luck that Madison was actually sitting in their room, even if it took her a couple of minutes to notice the other girl. 

“Geez, did your killer vagina strike again?” Madison asked, barely looking up from her phone. That just made Zoe start crying again, which actually caused Madison to look up.

“Woah, I was just kidding,” Madison said, actually looking kind of guilty. “Are… are you okay?”

“Just peachy,” Zoe replied sarcastically, swiping furiously at her eyes. “And coming back to this is just the cherry on top,” she said, burrowing her face in her pillow. All she wanted to do was cry in peace. Was that too much to ask for? Why couldn’t Madison just leave her alone? Especially since things had been kind of weird since their porch kiss, even if they had mostly just ignored it so far.

Zoe heard Madison get up and walk across the floor, but much to her surprise, instead of going to the door, Madison walked over to her bed. Zoe felt the bed dip slightly, but she didn’t acknowledge her presence. As she continued to cry into her pillow, Zoe felt a hesitant hand stroke through her hair.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Madison asked, sounding very unsure of herself. If Zoe were to bet, she would guess that Madison didn’t find herself in many of these situations. Really, Zoe was confused as to why she hadn’t just left instead of staying to deal with a crying roommate. Zoe was so shocked by Madison’s offer to talk about it that she sat up quickly. Madison retracted the hand that had been on Zoe’s hair like it had been burned.

“What?” Madison asked. “I may be a heatless bitch, but I know when someone is hurting.”

Zoe blinked a few times, trying to clear the tears out of her eyes.

“Really?” she asked, “You would do that for me?” Madison just nodded, giving what looked like an attempt at a small smile.

“My grandfather died today. I just found out. I was never really close to my family, but my grandfather was special to me until I left. I don’t even know what they told him when they sent me away. I always hoped I could see him again after all this, but now-” Zoe cut off with a sob. She honestly hadn’t thought that she would be having this hard of a time, especially after she hadn’t seen him in so long. 

“Turn around,” Madison said, after a brief pause. She had looked like a deer caught in headlights, but she recovered relatively quickly.

“What? Why?” Zoe asked, confused.

“Shut up and sit. I’m going to braid your hair,” Madison said, waving her hand to show Zoe that she meant business.

It may surprise people to see Madison Montgomery acting this way, but Zoe had always thought that there was much more to the girl deep down. She put up a bitchy exterior, but Zoe had seen glimpses under that shield. Zoe had been trying to crack through it since she had arrived, and it looked like tonight would be one of those nights where Madison showed that she could actually be a decent person.

Madison parted Zoe’s hair and started braiding the left side of her head. She worked without talking; the only sounds breaking the silence were Zoe’s occasional sniffles. Zoe didn’t really feel like talking, so she just sat quietly, enjoying the feel of Madison’s hands working through her hair. It was almost like she had cried out all her tears. Madison’s unexpected gesture of kindness had really touched her. She was still very sad, but she didn’t feel so alone.

When Madison had moved on to braiding the other side, Zoe felt her eyes start to droop. Crying always made her so tired, and it had been a very long day. Even so, she did not want to go to bed. Being in the dark silence would just make her mind race, and she would be right back to how upset she was in the first place.

“Zoe?” 

A quiet voice broke the silence. Zoe realized that Madison had been done with her hair for a while, and they had been quietly sitting on the bed together for a while.

“You look tired. Why don’t you go to bed?” Madison asked, moving to get off the bed.

“I don’t…” Zoe said, her voice cracking. “I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.”

She knew that this was Madison Montgomery she was talking to, which meant that she would still end up alone and miserable in bed, but it had slipped out somehow. She looked up at Madison, expecting a sneer or a laugh, but was met with a kind face instead.

“You don’t have to,” Madison said quietly, looking slightly at war with herself, but smiling hesitantly at Zoe in the end. “Come on, let’s get ready.”

Both girls went through the motions of getting ready on autopilot. Zoe finished first and crawled in bed. She just wanted the day to be over, plus, she was sort of nervous about Madison. Would Madison make fun of her for tonight later on? Was this going to make things even more awkward between them?

Lost in thought, Zoe barely noticed Madison emerging from the bathroom. She focused on Madison when the lights snapped off. In the dark, it seemed that all of Madison’s prior hesitance was gone, especially as the blonde climbed confidently into bed next to Zoe.

Side by side in silence again, Zoe couldn’t stop her thoughts from replaying all the day’s events. In no time, the tears she thought were gone were back again, but she tried to mask them the best she could. She didn’t want Madison to think she was weak.

Instead of ignoring her like Zoe thought she would, Madison rolled closer and wound her arms around Zoe. That was something Zoe definitely didn’t expect. Madison Montgomery didn’t do closeness or that kind of physical touch. She always shied away when people got too close, and she definitely didn’t do sappy emotions. Quite honestly, Zoe was perplexed by Madison’s behavior that night, but she was too drained to try to figure it out.

Eventually the tears stopped again. Zoe tried to focus on getting to sleep, but she kept getting lost in the feeling of Madison around her. She was grateful for the closeness and for the distraction the other girl provided, but she wondered if it could ever mean more. Tonight wasn’t really the night to be thinking about that, but Zoe’s mind was racing because she was trying so hard not to focus on the sadness at hand.

She and Madison had kissed. Zoe had initiated it, but it definitely hadn’t been completely intentional. It had just happened, and it hadn’t even been a romantic kiss or situation. Zoe had wanted to disappear after it happened because she was so embarrassed and not sure if Madison had ever thought of her like that, but Madison hadn’t appeared to be upset. She had even said something about them needing to practice more, but Zoe had started to wonder if she had imagined that part. 

Since then, Zoe tried to avoid bringing the kiss up at any cost because she was so confused about it, but she thought about it a lot. Probably more than she should. She wondered if Madison ever thought about it in a positive way, but she was too scared to ask. It sort of seemed like Madison was being a little more flirty than usual after their kiss, but it was hard to tell.

Trying once more to shut her brain up, Zoe turned her head into Madison and took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure if Madison was awake or asleep, but it didn’t really matter. As long as Madison didn’t leave her yet, she was okay, especially now that she could feel the tiredness washing over her.

“You smell good,” she mumbled into Madison’s shoulder. “It’s calming.”

She was only half awake, but she could have sworn that she felt Madison tense up for a second before relaxing. There was no verbal response from Madison, however. Zoe took another deep breath and let herself drift off to sleep, strangely content with the position she had never imagined ending up in, even if it had been a crappy situation that led them to that point.


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey, want to come out to dinner?” Madison’s voice floated over to Zoe from the doorway. Zoe looked up from her computer, locking eyes with Madison. The blonde was leaning against the doorframe, looking down at her nails. Zoe wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she thought that Madison looked especially beautiful today. Her hair was pristine, and the outfit she was wearing was one of Zoe’s favorites. Blinking quickly to stop her current train of thought, Zoe nodded with a smile.

“Sure, sounds fun!”

Zoe didn’t know why she was still thinking of Madison the way she was, but she spent more time than she probably should thinking about her. Even though Madison could be a handful sometimes, Zoe found herself caring about her a lot. Madison wore a mask to prevent anyone from getting too close, but Zoe had definitely seen past it, and she liked what she saw.

Madison had been so nice when her grandfather had passed away, going as far as to sleep in the same bed all night. Zoe had also seen some vulnerability in Madison, and she was starting to believe that most of Madison’s bitchiness was just a front to keep people from getting too close so she wouldn’t be hurt by them. 

“Where are we going?” Zoe asked, shutting her computer. Madison smirked.

“Just come on,” she said, disappearing out the doorway. Zoe rolled her eyes. It was just like Madison to not tell her where they were going, but she wasn’t going to argue. She just hoped that Madison wouldn’t antagonize the others much during dinner. Madison could be kind of fun sometimes when she wasn’t being mean.

Catching up to Madison, the two walked out the front door together. Zoe briefly wondered where the others were, but figured that they would probably be meeting them there. Even in heels, Madison was a fast walker, so Zoe had to make an effort to not fall behind.

After walking in silence for a while, the pair reached an area with a few restaurants and shops. When the girls of Miss Robichaux’s Academy went out, they usually went to this area, mostly because it was within walking distance. Zoe happened to really like one of the restaurants, and she was pleased to see that Madison was headed for the door of that restaurant.

Madison walked ahead and held the door open for Zoe, which almost made Zoe stop in her tracks. When was the last time Madison held the door open for anyone? It was very surprising. She did her best to mask her surprise and thanked Madison for holding the door for her. Madison just smiled, which was also surprising.

As soon as the host saw Madison, he grabbed two menus and led the girls to a secluded table in the back.

“Where is everyone else?” Zoe asked, puzzled. “Wait,” she said as an odd thought struck her. She didn’t want to say it and be wrong, since that would make things indefinitely weirder between the two of them, but she needed to know. There had been some definite sparks flying between them recently, especially after their kiss. Plus, Madison had been letting Zoe see the real her more and more, and Zoe had thought she had caught Madison being even flirtier than usual with her. “Is this… a date?”

Zoe caught the briefest flash of panic in Madison’s eyes before the blonde schooled her expression, but Zoe knew she only noticed because she had spent enough time with Madison to catch the tiny cracks in her armor.

“God, I hope so,” the blonde said, huffing a bit. “I went through all this trouble to set it up.”

Madison’s eyes were scanning Zoe’s face, and Zoe couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Madison seemed to relax the tiniest bit when she saw that. The feeling that spread through Zoe was mostly happiness, but there was a fair amount of shock mixed in as well. She couldn’t believe that Madison actually wanted to go on a date with her. The girl she had been thinking about almost constantly and crushing on for quite a while actually wanted her back.

Looking down at her outfit, Zoe knew she was underdressed, but she didn’t know that this was supposed to be a date. Madison had asked so casually that Zoe thought it was just a normal dinner with all their friends. Luckily, Madison wasn’t super dressed up, but she looked really good in anything she wore.

“You look beautiful,” Madison assured Zoe, and Zoe blushed. She was even more amazed that Madison could read her as well as Zoe could read her. It didn’t seem like Madison paid much attention to the people around her at first glance, but Zoe realized that that was just another defense mechanism. Madison did seem to always be studying the situation, but she just usually didn’t make any deep comments. She tended to stick to the obvious and sometimes mean things, but Zoe knew that didn’t mean she didn’t notice the other things.

Now that she knew this was a date, Zoe was nervous. What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to act? Oh, she didn’t always do well under pressure, and even though she was extremely happy that this was happening, she was feeling anxious.

“So, what book are you reading right now?” Madison asked. Leave it to Madison to actually come up with a topic of conversation that would relax Zoe.

“Actually, I just finished one, so I’m trying to figure out which book to read next.” Zoe launched into a whole explanation about the book she had finished and a brief summary of the books she was thinking about starting. To her credit, Madison looked interested throughout the whole thing, nodding and commenting in all the right places.

Right as that conversation was winding down, the waiter came by. Zoe didn’t know if she should do anything different because this was an actual date instead of their usual dinner with everyone, but she ended up sticking with her typical order. It was simple, and that way, she wouldn’t have to worry about any other silly things. Madison stuck with her usual iceberg lettuce with a side of blue cheese order, so Zoe felt better about just keeping with tradition.

There were a couple moments of silence after the waiter left, but eventually the two struck up an easy conversation again. She knew other people didn’t have the same experience, but Zoe always found it so easy to be herself around Madison. She never felt like she had to work around what she wanted to say, and everything felt so natural once Madison opened her shell a little. Madison didn’t share much personal information or things about her past, but the conversation never felt one-sided or forced.

The two witches continued talking about everything they could throughout dinner. The food was great as usual, even though Madison always seemed to only pick at her lettuce and didn’t even touch her side of dressing. Zoe felt so content by the end that she didn’t even worry too much when Madison told her that the bill had already been taken care of when they finished. Usually, she would put up more of a fuss, but she only offered to pay for her part and thanked Madison when she told her no.

As Zoe and Madison walked home, they passed a small park. Zoe grabbed Madison by the hand and pulled her until they reached the swings.

“Come on,” Zoe said excitedly. “Let’s swing!”

Madison grumbled a little, but didn’t put up much of a fight. Zoe hopped on a swing and immediately started trying to go as high as she could, gaining height quickly. She looked over at Madison, smiling yet again, only to have that smile falter a little when she saw that the blonde was just sitting on her swing.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like swinging?” Zoe asked, concerned. Madison shook her head.

“No, this is great! I just like watching you,” she said carefully. Zoe slowed her swing, trying to get back to the ground. She could tell that there was more going on.

“Really, is everything okay?”

“It’s fine. I don’t want to bring our first date down by being all depressing and shit,” Madison said, kicking the ground. When Zoe continued staring at her, she sighed.

“Fine, but it’s nothing. I was just thinking how I never had the chance to do this as a kid. I don’t really even know how to swing. My parents didn’t let me do things like this, and I was working as much as they could push me into it, so I didn’t have time for it either. It’s dumb,” Madison finished, turning her head away from Zoe.

“Hey, it’s definitely not dumb,” Zoe said, jumping off her swing and walking toward Madison. “I’ll help you swing. I’ll push you, and you just need to move your legs up and down to build momentum. Ready?”

It didn’t take long before Madison was swinging just as high as Zoe had earlier, and now there was a big smile on both of their faces.

“Thank you,” Madison said softly. “No one has ever taken the time to show me how to do something fun like that. And swinging was a great idea.”

“I just didn’t want the date to end yet,” Zoe said, reaching for Madison’s hand.

Standing in front of the swings, Madison slowly closed the gap between their faces, giving Zoe time to back away before they had their proper first kiss. It wasn’t really their first kiss, but it was their first really meaningful kiss. Neither wanted to break apart, but when they finally did, both girls had smiles on their faces.

“Can we… I mean, would you like to do this again sometime?” Madison asked, her loud confidence from earlier gone.

“Yes, definitely,” Zoe nodded enthusiastically.

They stood in the park for a moment longer before they decided that they needed to go back before Cordelia started freaking out about them being gone too long. They held hands the whole way back, and though they didn’t kiss at the door like all the old movies, Zoe held on to the memory of their kiss at the park. Zoe fell asleep with a happy and hopeful heart, and looking at Madison, Zoe thought she did too.


	5. Chapter 5

Zoe was sitting in the kitchen eating a snack with some of the girls. Things had been really good lately, and she was really content. She and Madison had gone on a few more dates, to the point where they were definitely in a relationship. Zoe really loved being able to see Madison like that, especially since she had been showing her softer side a little more when it was just the two of them.

As she took another bite of her apple, Zoe smiled. She had finished all her work for the day, so she could just hang out and do whatever for the rest of the day. She was really enjoying getting to know the other girls better, so she was planning on staying in the kitchen with them until they all went their separate directions. However, that plan went out the window as soon as she heard the front door slam and the sound of heels clacking angrily up the stairs. She could almost hear Madison huffing in anger from the other room.

Finishing her snack and saying her goodbyes, Zoe cautiously left the kitchen. Even if they were dating, Zoe didn’t want to be on the warpath of a raging Madison Montgomery. That was not a smart option. Hearing another door slam, Zoe figured that Madison had made it to their room. Running up the stairs, Zoe made her way to their door. She didn’t want to barge in, but knocking seemed weird, since it was her room too. She settled for opening the door slowly.

Inside, Madison was angrily stripping off her clothes and muttering under her breath. Zoe couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she guessed that it wasn’t anything good. Closing the door behind her, Zoe stepped into the room and sat on the edge of her bed, waiting for Madison to notice her. The blonde hadn’t noticed her yet, as she was still changing clothes.

“You okay, Madison?” Zoe asked. Madison jumped and turned quickly around.

“Do I look like I’m okay?” she snapped, then sighed. “Sorry. I’m fine.”

Pulling the shirt over her head, Madison walked over to Zoe’s bed and sat next to her. Clearly, there was something bugging the blonde, but Zoe wanted to let Madison tell her what was bothering her without pushing her. Madison rested her head on Zoe’s shoulder and sighed again. She opened her mouth, but closed it without saying anything. Finally, she blurted something out.

“It’s been a really long day, and I just need you to play with my hair,” she said quickly, averting her eyes. Zoe figured that she was embarrassed because to Madison, this was almost like admitting weakness.

“Oh, Madi,” Zoe said, smiling softly. She changed position, pulling Madison with her so they were cuddled up on the bed. Zoe started running her fingers through Madison’s long blonde hair, happy that Madison had let her guard down, even if it was just in a small way. Madison closed her eyes contentedly, letting out a small happy sound. Zoe tried to commit this moment to memory, as it wasn’t very often that she got to see Madison like this.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Zoe asked. When all she got in response was a mumbled, “people suck,” she let it go. If Madison wanted to elaborate later, she could. For now, she was just enjoying being there to comfort her girlfriend. Zoe started twisting Madison’s hair into a fancy braid, letting her mind wander as her hands did the work. She thought that it was a big step for Madison to allow herself to ask Zoe to do this for her, and Zoe was proud of her for it.

They hadn’t told anyone that they were dating yet, but Zoe figured that some of them already knew. Cordelia, for example, had let her gaze linger on them longer than usual the past few times she had seen them together. Zoe didn’t know if she would have a problem with it, especially since the two were roommates, but that was why they hadn’t told her yet. Part of Zoe thought that Cordelia wouldn’t mind just because Zoe was able to calm Madison when no one else was. She was usually able to redirect the blonde when she got in silly arguments with people, had started to get the blonde to open up more and be a little kinder, and she was able to help soothe her when she had bad days or nights.

Feeling a little tired, Zoe looked over at Madison. It looked like she had fallen asleep, which didn’t really surprise Zoe. Whenever someone played with Zoe’s hair, it calmed her down and made her feel sleepy. Looking at the clock, Zoe decided that they had time for a nap before dinner, so she closed her eyes and let herself drift off.

Stirring when she felt something brush through her hair, Zoe opened her eyes. She was met with Madison’s eyes staring right at her.

“Hey,” Madison said, running her hand through Zoe’s hair again. Zoe smiled.

“Hi. Feeling better?” Zoe asked. Madison ducked her head a little, but nodded. She looked a little embarrassed, but she definitely looked happier. “Good. I’m glad you let me play with your hair,” Zoe said, running her hand over Madison’s new braid.

Madison looked happy to hear Zoe say that. Disentangling herself from Zoe, she got up and looked in the mirror. Zoe looked over at the clock again.

“Ready to go down for dinner?” Zoe asked, sitting up.

“I’m not hungry,” Madison responded, still checking out her reflection in the mirror. “You need to practice your braiding more,” she huffed, tucking a loose strand back in her braid.

“Come on, Madison, did you even eat lunch? Besides, I’m hungry,” Zoe said, trying to coax the blonde into at least going down and sitting at the table with her. Madison frowned, choosing not to respond, but eventually rolled her eyes and faced Zoe.

“Do you need a hug first?” Zoe asked, wanting to make sure Madison was over whatever had happened earlier to make her angry.

“Yes, please,” Madison said in a smaller voice. It seemed to Zoe that Madison had never let herself have any moments of kindness towards herself before, but that she was starting to allow herself some moments with Zoe. Zoe stepped forward and embraced Madison. At first, Madison just stood there and let Zoe hug her, but started hugging back right before she let go. Pulling away, Zoe looked at Madison.

“Is that my shirt?” she asked, laughing. Madison simply shrugged and went back to looking herself in the mirror. Even though Madison claimed she didn’t like most of Zoe’s fashion choices, Zoe had caught her wearing her clothes a few times. She didn’t mind at all. In fact, she thought it was kind of cute.

Zoe’s stomach growled loudly, reminding her that they were supposed to be going to dinner.

“Let’s go, Madison,” she said, walking out the door, hoping Madison would follow her. Even with the fuss Madison put up about her braiding needing work, Zoe was glad to see that Madison kept the braid in. She actually thought it looked really good, though Zoe thought Madison could pull just about any look off if she tried. Luckily, the blonde did follow her out of their room and down to the dining room. Zoe would take the little victories as they came, smiling as they walked down to dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a lot of thoughts about last night's episode, but I already had this written, so I'm ignoring everything about it for now. Zoe (and Queenie) deserved so much more. I feel like you could really see how broken up Madison was about the whole thing, which made me so sad. Here's to hoping things get better next episode.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Really douchey guys being disgusting and mention of rape

Trailing her fingers along the books on the shelf, Zoe slowly made her way down one of the aisles of the small bookstore she and Madison were visiting. Visiting a bookstore was one of Zoe’s favorite things to do on the days she didn’t have anything to do, and she had even managed to drag Madison along with her. She didn’t always buy something, but she loved the smell of the books, the lighting in the store, and the big comfy chairs set into little nooks.

Extracting a random book from the shelf, Zoe made her way over to the chair Madison had tucked herself into. The chairs weren’t that big, but the two of them always seemed to fit together in them. Madison had been flipping through a book of her own, but as soon as Zoe returned with her book, she put it down and set her head on Zoe’s shoulder to look at Zoe’s book with her.

This bookstore was one of Zoe’s favorites, but not just because of the book selection. Over her many visits, she had gotten to know the owner and the two other employees who worked there, and she thought that they were some of the nicest people she had met since coming to the academy. The store was pretty secluded, and there weren’t many people who came around on a regular basis. This meant that Zoe and Madison were able to be a little freer than usual, which meant a lot to Zoe.

“What did you find this time?” Madison asked, reaching out a hand to flip the book open. Zoe smiled. Madison might not seem like a big reader, but Zoe had been pleasantly surprised to find that Madison would read with her.

“I’m not actually sure; I picked a random book. It’s like book roulette,” she replied with a soft laugh.

They sat together, reading through the first chapter. Madison tended to be a slightly slower reader than Zoe, but not so much that it threw off Zoe’s rhythm. When Madison finished with a page, she flipped to the next. They had worked out that system the first time they had attempted to read together, and it worked more smoothly each time they used it.

“Well, that was horrible,” Madison said with a grimace on her face once they finished the chapter. Zoe hid a grin and shot an incredulous look at her. The book had started off looking like it was going to be a love story, and perhaps it would end that way, but the first chapter had been all over the place.

“Oh, come on. Who doesn’t like a good love story?” Zoe asked, nudging Madison.

“They’re all unrealistic,” Madison grumbled, looking away from Zoe. “That doesn’t exist in real life.”

Zoe couldn’t help but feel a little hurt by Madison’s statement. Did Madison think that what they had wasn’t real? Was Zoe’s love not enough for her? Was Madison just pretending to like her? Zoe snapped the book shut with some force and stood up abruptly, trying to hide her hurt expression. She walked over to the shelf she had gotten the book from and replaced it carefully. 

Peering down the next aisle, Zoe decided that she didn’t want to spend any more time reading with Madison today. She still felt wounded by Madison’s statements, and she hadn’t found any great books either.

Walking past the chair they had been sitting in, Zoe didn’t bother to let Madison know she was leaving. Madison would see her, and if she wanted to follow, she would. Honestly, Zoe wasn’t sure if she wanted Madison to follow her or not.

Zoe thanked the employee working before exiting the store. She walked for a few blocks, only knowing Madison was following her because of the sound of Madison’s heels on the pavement. As they approached a corner, Zoe felt Madison’s hand grab her wrist.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been all pissy since the bookstore,” Madison asked, giving Zoe a look. Zoe scoffed, not believing that Madison could actually be that ignorant.

“Really? You honestly don’t know? I didn’t think you were that dumb,” Zoe shot back, not caring if she came off a little mean. “I know that people don’t mean much to you in general, but you can be a real bitch sometimes. I don’t think you even have to try.”

Madison recoiled, retracting her hand and looking like Zoe had just slapped her. She quickly schooled her expression to the emotionless mask Zoe was so used to seeing when Madison was around other people. Madison stared at Zoe for a long moment, looking like she was having an internal battle. Zoe really hoped she would actually say how she was feeling instead of coming back with a superficial bitchy remark.

“You know I didn’t mean that,” Madison said, sighing. Zoe thought she still looked at war with herself, but she didn’t say anything after that.

“Then why did you say it? Zoe asked, letting a little more of her hurt shine through.

“Because I’m a bitch,” Madison said, eyes blazing. “You know it, and everyone else knows it. You can’t expect me to change that just because we’re dating.”

There was a moment of silence between the girls, neither knowing what to say next. They kept eye contact, neither wanting to back down. Finally, Madison broke the silence.

“Fine, let’s just go get ice cream, okay?”

It really wasn’t the resolution Zoe wanted, and though she still felt a little offended, she knew it was the only sort of apology she was going to get from the blonde. Zoe sighed, but nodded, letting Madison lead them the few doors down to the ice cream parlor.

Zoe took her time looking at all the ice cream flavors, using the time to try to get over how Madison had made her feel earlier. Madison had been so much more open and outwardly kind to Zoe recently that it really stung when she reverted to how she used to act. Madison was still Madison, and Zoe didn’t expect her to completely change.

Ordering her ice cream and joining Madison at the register, Zoe decided to let her frustration go. It wasn’t worth it, and she didn’t want to bring her whole day down. She didn’t fight Madison when Madison insisted on paying for the ice cream, even though Madison didn’t get any. Zoe walked outside, sitting down at one of the tables in front of the store.

“Come on, Madison, you have to try this,” Zoe coaxed, waving her ice cream cone in Madison’s face. If Madison wasn’t going to get her own ice cream, she was darn well going to eat some of Zoe’s, even if Zoe was still a little miffed.

“No, it’s got all your germs on it,” Madison said, making a face and turning her head to the side to avoid the ice cream.

“Aww, come on,” Zoe said, chasing Madison with the ice cream cone. When she didn’t have any luck with that, she purposefully bopped Madison on the nose with it, getting ice cream on her. Zoe couldn’t hold back the laugh that bubbled out of her throat at the shocked expression on Madison’s face.

“Why, you… What did…” Madison spluttered, wiping frantically at the ice cream on her nose. Zoe just laughed harder. Madison still had a scowl on her face, but it did eventually turn into a small smile. 

As Zoe finished her ice cream, she got up to throw her trash away. On her way, someone cut in front of her, causing her to bump into him.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, dumbass,” the guy said, looking over his shoulder at Zoe. Once he saw her, he whistled at her. “On second thought, you can bump into me whenever you want. Wanna come hang out with me tonight?”

Zoe frowned, feeling uncomfortable. She hated men who felt entitled like that, and she just wanted to get back to Madison.

“Um, no,” she said, moving to walk around him. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it as far as she wanted before the guy sidestepped and blocked her path. Even worse, one of his buddies came up and stood next to him. It was still afternoon and there were plenty of people around, but Zoe didn’t like the feeling she was getting from these creeps.

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that, beautiful,” the guy said, reaching out toward Zoe. Zoe ducked out of the way, completely repulsed. Who did this guy think he was? Unfortunately, her brain froze, and she couldn’t come up with anything to say to express how much this was not okay.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, douche?” Madison’s voice cut through Zoe’s brain fog. “You have no right to even think about a woman like that.”

Both guys turned to look at each other with sleezy grins on their faces. Zoe felt a shudder run through her body and she shrunk backward a little, however, Madison stood tall.

“Well, now there’s one for each of us,” Douche One said.

“Or maybe we should just share. What do you think, sweetheart?” Douche Two responded, turning to Zoe. Zoe found her voice again.

“I’m not your sweetheart,” she growled, trying to put on a false sense of bravery.

“Nuh uh,” Madison said, shaking her head. “You don’t get to talk to her like that. Actually, you don’t get to talk to her at all. Now, fuck off,” she said forcefully, bringing her hands out in front of her. A blank expression appeared on the faces of both guys before they turned toward each other. In sync, each punched the other, hard, right in the face. Zoe swore she heard at least one loud crack. She turned toward Madison, who was fuming. 

“They can’t do that to you,” Madison said, voice wavering slightly, though she hid it well. “Are you okay?” she asked, eyes scanning every part of Zoe.

Honestly, Zoe was a little shaken. Those guys hadn’t done anything other than speaking horribly to her, though the one had tried to touch her, but it had made her feel so dirty. Especially after this experience, she couldn’t imagine going through something like Madison had. 

Zoe had tried to be there as much as possible for Madison after that night, but Madison hadn’t been at the point where she was letting anyone in. She hid it all inside and bottled it up, and Zoe didn’t know what to do. They had just met, and Zoe didn’t know Madison hardly at all. Zoe didn’t understand how Madison could just keep going as she had, but that was just part of Madison’s personality, or at least her mask she always wore to keep people from getting too close.

“I’m okay. We’re good,” Zoe replied shakily, “but I’m really glad you were here.” She knew Madison really didn’t like showing affection in public places like this, but she risked it and gave Madison a quick, but strong hug. She tried to pour all of her emotions into the hug, tried to let Madison know everything she was feeling.

Madison gave Zoe another once over once the hug was over, like she didn’t completely believe Zoe, but eventually gave her a nod.

“Okay. Let’s go home, dork,” Madison said, grabbing Zoe’s hand and pulling her toward the academy. Zoe smiled tentatively at her, earlier trepidation about Madison not loving her gone. They would be just fine.


	7. Chapter 7

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no,” Zoe repeated over and over. This couldn’t be happening. Nope, she was going to wake up soon from this nightmare, right? She started pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what she could possibly do to remedy the situation she had gotten herself in. “How bad is it?”

“Do you want me to tell you the truth or lie to make you feel better?” Madison asked, smirking. 

“She’s going to kill us!” Zoe moaned, putting her head in her hands.

“Zoe, chill,” Madison said, rolling her eyes. She looked extremely unconcerned, scrolling through her phone.

“Chill? Chill?!? How am I supposed to chill? And how are you so calm?” Zoe shrieked, losing her cool even more. This was not okay, Cordelia was going to hate them, they were going to be expelled… Madison put down her phone and grabbed Zoe by the shoulders, forcing her to look her in the eyes.

“Zoe, it was an accident. Accidents happen. Besides, this is really Cordy’s fault. She should have been here when we were looking for her, and she definitely shouldn’t have left that tool on the ground,” Madison reasoned. Zoe took a deep breath and nodded, even if Madison’s reasoning was mostly faulty.

Zoe and Madison had gone into the greenhouse to look for Cordelia so they could officially tell her they were dating, but disaster had struck when they got inside. Zoe had tripped over a gardening tool that was on the ground, knocking over many of the glass bottles that had been on Cordelia’s workbench. Some of them had liquids inside, some of them didn’t, but they all looked very important.

Madison looked at the mess on the floor and waved her hand. Immediately, all the glass shards that had been on the ground moved and collected themselves into a semi-neat pile of glass on the workbench. Zoe thought it was better than before, but she didn’t know what she was going to say to Cordelia or how she would possibly apologize enough. All of that work Cordelia had put in was ruined.

“Girls?” Cordelia’s voice floated through the greenhouse. “I thought I heard something in-” she stopped in her tracks, looking at the pile of glass, the liquid on the floor, Zoe’s extremely guilty looking face, and Madison’s bored expression. “What happened here?”

Zoe’s hands started shaking. She knew she would have to tell Cordelia that it was all her fault, but she was so afraid that the teacher would hate her because she had ruined so much of her important work. She opened her mouth to confess, but a voice cut her off before she could.

“It was my fault. I knocked all the stuff off of your desk. You should really make sure you pick up around here,” Madison said, tossing the tool Zoe had tripped over on the workbench. “Someone could get hurt or something.”

Cordelia blinked several times and looked like she was trying to figure out if she wanted to yell at Madison or cry.

“What-” Zoe began asking, but Madison stepped on her foot before she could blow their cover. “I mean, do you need any help cleaning up?” Zoe recovered, still unsure as to why Madison would take the blame for something that was not her fault.

“I’m not helping,” Madison announced, sweeping past the other two witches. “Later,” she said, exiting the greenhouse.

“No, Zoe, but thank you for your offer. I can manage here,” Cordelia sighed, eyes following Madison as she left.

“I’m so sor-, I mean I’m sorry this happened. Is everything ruined?” Zoe asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry, Zoe. All this can be redone. No lasting harm, just a bit of an annoyance, really. Why don’t you go follow Madison to make sure she doesn’t cause any more trouble?” Cordelia asked gently. “Unless you needed to talk with me about something. Why were you in here in the first place?”

“Oh, I just had a question, but it was stupid.” Zoe paused for a second. Now probably wasn’t the right time to talk to Cordelia about their relationship. “But you’ve known Madison longer than me. I don’t- I don’t understand her sometimes. Why-?” she let the question hang there, unsure of what she wanted to ask. This definitely wasn’t the discussion she and Madison had come to have with Cordelia, but she wanted to hear what Cordelia had to say about this. Cordelia sighed.

“Madison is an enigma. I believe that she hides her true self so deep, so far behind the façade she has constructed, that it is hard to really understand her. She has faced so much pain in her short life that she is desperate not to feel anything real in order to protect herself. I believe that deep down, there is light and goodness in her, but she needs something special in order to help her allow that to shine through,” Cordelia explained, studying Zoe. “You are good for her, I can tell. I have seen more of the true Madison lately than I ever have, and I think that it is thanks to you.”

“I was the one who tripped and broke all your things,” Zoe blurted out. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Madison didn’t do it, and I don’t know why she said she did,” Zoe continued, feeling guilty that Cordelia had been saying how Zoe was good for Madison. If she was good for her, how could she let Madison take the blame for something that was Zoe’s fault. Cordelia’s eyes sparkled.

“I assumed as much, but this is exactly what I am talking about. Even just a short while ago, Madison never would have batted an eyelash if someone had broken something and was worried about getting in trouble. Now, she stepped up and took the blame so you wouldn’t get in trouble. I think she figures that one more problem on her record won’t be a problem because she thinks everyone has already given up on her, but that she doesn’t want your record to be tarnished. Don’t worry, I am not upset with you. Accidents happen, and this can all be repaired. And I haven’t given up on Madison, either.”

Zoe smiled, understanding exactly what Cordelia was trying to say. Maybe it wasn’t the talk she had meant to have with Cordelia, but she got the feeling that it was the talk she needed to have. They could always talk to Cordelia about their relationship later.

“Now, go, make sure Madison doesn’t get into any more trouble today, please,” Cordelia said, shooing Zoe off with a smile.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Child sexual abuse

Zoe swore as she heard her phone go off in the middle of the night. Who could possibly be calling her at this hour? Didn’t they understand that she needed sleep? Squinting at the screen, Zoe tried to make out the name on the caller ID, but the screen was just too bright. Giving up, Zoe answered the phone quietly, not wanting to wake Madison.

“Hello?” she said groggily, still ticked that this person had interrupted her sleep. This had better be important. “Hello?” she repeated when she heard no response. She was about to hang up when she heard a sniffle.

“Zoe?”

“Madison?” Zoe asked, shocked. She sat up and turned the light on, and sure enough, her roommate was not in the other bed. Zoe had gone to bed early that night, so Madison hadn’t been in the room by the time Zoe had fallen asleep, but she had expected Madison to come to bed at some point. Now, it was like 2:30 in the morning, and Madison was calling her. “Where are you?”

“’T our park,” Madison slurred. “Can you come get me?” she asked in a tiny voice.

Zoe could hardly believe it. Madison was drunk calling her in the middle of the night to walk over to the park to take her home. Of course, she was going to do it, but she was kind of mad that the blonde thought that this kind of behavior was okay.

“I’m coming, Madison. Just stay where you are and stay on the phone with me,” Zoe sighed, exasperated. Of course, as soon as she had finished saying that, she heard the phone hang up. Ugh, Madison couldn’t even follow simple directions tonight.

Pulling on a hoodie, some jeans, and a pair of sneakers, Zoe ran out of the house and to the park where they had ended their first date. Seeing a solitary figure on the swings, Zoe made her way in that direction.

“Madison, why did you do this?” Zoe asked, groaning. Madison wasn’t swinging, just sitting on the swing with a mostly empty bottle of booze in her hand, a newspaper on the ground next to her.

“You came?” Madison asked, sounding shocked and quite drunk.

“Of course I came. I said I was coming. But why are you out here?” Zoe responded, still mad about the whole situation.

Instead of answering Zoe’s question, Madison just burst into tears. Zoe was worried that Madison would fall off the swing in her current state, so she carefully guided the blonde so she was sitting next to Zoe on the ground. Moving the newspaper out of the way, an article caught her eye. It was about a Hollywood director that had been convicted of multiple counts of molesting the child actors he had worked with. Putting two and two together, Zoe pulled Madison into her lap and held her tight as Madison sobbed harder.

“Oh, Madison,” Zoe breathed, trying to wrap her head around what exactly this meant. All of Zoe’s annoyance and anger toward Madison melted away, replaced with a deep anger toward this Hollywood asshole director. How could anyone do anything so horrible? And Madison, well, how could she keep all of that inside without bursting, especially after what had happened Zoe’s first night at the academy?

Zoe sat with Madison for a long time, with Madison’s cries the only sounds. Zoe wasn’t sure what to say, but she felt like she had to say something. She wanted Madison to know that she didn’t have to keep everything locked inside, that she would always be there to listen and share anything Madison wanted.

“Hey, Madison? I know you don’t always like to share things about yourself, but I’m always here for you, okay? I want you to be able to trust me enough to tell me anything. I won’t think less of you or blame you or anything. Do you know how much you mean to me?”

Madison swiped her hand across her face, trying to rid it of all tears. She looked so conflicted, but it seemed like the alcohol had taken away what was left of her already minimal filter, so she just let it out.

“Why should I trust you? Don’t even trust myself. I don’t trust anyone. No one’s ever helped me ‘cuz they’re nice,” Madison slurred. “They all want something. But you haven’t taken anything yet. What do you want?” she demanded, voice getting louder.

“I love being around you because you’re you. Because of the person I see deep down, and even the person you are on the surface. You may try to hide it, but I know you care too. You may not realize it, but you are the person I choose to spend all my time around. I love you!” Zoe explained, close to tears herself.

“’M afraid,” Madison admitted quietly.

“You don’t have to be afraid. I’m not like them, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to do my best to keep other people from hurting you too,” Zoe professed, tightening her grip on Madison.

“Pinky promise?” Madison asked.

“Pinky promise,” Zoe agreed, holding out her pinky to link with Madison’s.

“I… I think I need you,” Madison confessed after a moment of silence. “I think I trust you more than I trust me. You make me better.” Zoe smiled at Madison, happy that Madison was opening up to her, even if the reasons weren’t good.

“You make me better, too,” Zoe said, intertwining her fingers with Madison’s. “Even if you don’t know it, you are so special.”

“You don’t care I’m broken? I don’t think I can ever be fixed. Been broken too many times. Too many cracks,” Madison said, almost inaudibly.

“You’ve been hurt a lot, and probably a lot of times that I don’t know anything about, but that doesn’t mean you’re broken. You are you, and I fell in love with you, not a perfect version of anything. We can get through this together, if you let me in. Can you try to do that?”

Madison nodded, and it seemed like the time for talking was over. They both had a lot to think about, and it had been an emotionally draining night for both of them. Madison tucked her head under Zoe’s chin, trying to get as close to Zoe as possible. Zoe didn’t mind at all, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Madison’s head.

Even though it wasn’t the most comfortable spot, the two witches sat on the ground until the sky brightened with all the colors of the sunrise. They would have to talk about some of the night’s revelations later, but for the moment, they were content to sit and take in the beautiful sight together.


	9. Chapter 9

“Psst, Madison!” Zoe whispered. It was still really early in the morning, and even though she knew Madison wasn’t a morning person, Zoe was hoping she would go along with Zoe’s plan for the day. “Wake up!”

Madison groaned and rolled over. It looked like it wasn’t going to be easy to get Madison up for the day, but Zoe had expected that. Zoe poked Madison in the side, smiling when Madison pulled the pillow over her head. Zoe pulled all of Madison’s covers off, quickly jumping off to the side to avoid Madison’s flailing arms as she sat up quickly.

“You bitch!” Madison exclaimed, trying to tug her covers back.

“No way, Madison. Come on, get up! I have something fun planned for today!” Zoe smirked. It was a weekend, so there were no classes or meetings that they had to attend, and since they had a full day open, Zoe had wanted to plan something special for the two of them to do. Things had been a little heavy at times lately, so Zoe wanted to make sure they could have a day full of fun without stress.

“What could possibly be better than sleeping in?” Madison complained, but she eventually got up. Zoe was already ready, so she went downstairs to get the two of them breakfast while Madison got ready. She knew it would take Madison a while, so she took her time making sure that everything was all set for the day. Eventually, Madison emerged from the upstairs, frowning slightly.

“Okay, I’m up and ready. Now where are we going that I had to get up at some god-forsaken hour?” Madison grumbled, walking over to Zoe and giving her a quick kiss. Zoe smiled into the kiss.

“Good morning,” she said, handing Madison the orange slices and yogurt she had grabbed for her. “Are you ready for today?” Zoe asked excitedly, unable to contain her enthusiasm. Madison couldn’t contain the smile that crept on her face at her girlfriend’s excitement.

“Yes, but will you tell me where we’re going now?” Madison asked again. She nibbled half-heartedly on an orange slice before setting the rest of her breakfast on the counter. Zoe rolled her eyes before putting the leftovers in the refrigerator, not wanting them to go to waste, but also hoping that Madison would eat them when they got back at some point.

“Nope, but let’s go!” Zoe said, leading Madison out to the car. She refused to drive without Madison fastening her seatbelt, which led to a short delay due to Madison’s argument. Zoe won, and eventually the pair was on the road. Zoe let Madison control the music, but she did make Madison change the song a few times. The drive wasn’t the shortest, but at least it was pleasant. As they pulled up to their destination, Madison raised her eyebrows.

“The zoo? Really?” she asked, rolling her eyes, but Zoe saw a small smile on her face. Zoe knew that Madison had missed out on a lot of things that most kids got to do, so she wanted to help Madison experience her favorites.

“Yep,” Zoe said, popping the p at the end. “It’s going to be so fun! We’re going to see everything.”

Zoe got out of the car and started walking quickly toward the entrance, barely waiting for Madison to catch up. She wasn’t actually sure if Madison was going to like the zoo, but she wanted to at least give her the experience once.

“Where do you want to go first? We could go see the gorillas, the elephants, the sea lions…” Zoe trailed off, looking over at Madison to see if any of those caught her interest.

“Let’s just start… over there,” Madison said, pointing her finger.

Zoe grabbed Madison’s hand and started dragging her toward the exhibit Madison had pointed to. Zoe had looked up interesting facts about many of the animals that had exhibits at the zoo, so she was dropping random facts as they went along.

“Did you know that sun bears are the smallest of all bears? They still don’t know what the babirusa tusks are used for. Giraffe tongues are purple to help prevent sunburn!”

Even if Madison had been a little resistant at first, Zoe thought that she seemed like she was enjoying herself. She went right up to the front to look at all the animals, and Zoe caught her reading the informational plaques. It might not be as exciting as some of the things Madison had done before, but Zoe was having fun just spending time with her.

Zoe knew that Madison was enjoying herself when Madison dragged Zoe over to the train and told her they were riding it. She was engaged with the ride and with the animals at the zoo, and Zoe knew that she had been right to take her to the zoo. Madison wasn’t good about showing affection in public, especially in places that she could be so easily recognized, but at one point on the train ride, Madison held Zoe’s hand. She let go when they got to the end, but Zoe felt a squeeze and got a smile before that.

They spent almost all day at the zoo, only leaving when the staff started shooing them out with the rest of the crowd. Madison had a silly grin on her face when they got back to the car, which made Zoe smile even bigger.

“So, did you have fun?” Zoe asked, nudging Madison. Madison groaned good-naturedly.

“Yes, I suppose for a childish activity, it was actually kind of okay,” she admitted. “Thank you for taking me.”

Zoe smiled the whole way home, even when Madison picked obnoxious music along the way.

“So, what should we do next time?” Zoe asked, mostly kidding, but also looking to see if there was anything special Madison wanted to do.

“I pick next time,” Madison said with a slightly evil grin. Zoe supposed she should be nervous, but she was actually just excited. If Madison was picking next time, that meant that there was going to be a next time, which made Zoe really happy.

Once they had arrived and parked back home, Madison pushed Zoe up against the wall of the house and kissed her.

“Thanks for always making me feel special,” Madison said softly. “I love you.” Zoe beamed. Zoe had told Madison that she loved her before, but this was the first time Madison ever said the words to Zoe.

“I love you too,” Zoe responded, surging forward and kissing Madison passionately. They stood there for another minute, just kissing, but eventually broke apart. Zoe would have stayed out there all night, but she knew that they needed to get back inside before someone caught them. They weren’t exactly hiding anything, and she was pretty sure they weren’t the subtlest, but it still would have been really awkward for someone to come out and catch them in this position.

“Let’s go,” Zoe whispered, dragging Madison inside and up the stairs. As far as days went, this was probably one of her favorites, and she couldn’t wait to make more special memories with Madison.


	10. Chapter 10

Zoe blinked tiredly, rubbing her eyes. Confused as to why she was awake, she glanced over at the clock in her and Madison’s room. Way too early to be up. Looking around, everything looked undisturbed, so she wasn’t sure what had woken her.

A sudden rumble shook the room, interrupting all Zoe’s thoughts. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring all thoughts that she would be safer on the bed, trying to get over to Madison. This kind of thing didn’t happen that often, but it did happen occasionally on Madison’s worst nights. Madison’s telekinesis was extremely strong, and it sometimes manifested as an unconscious defense mechanism while asleep.

Zoe thought things had been getting better. With the exception of the night Madison was drunk in the park, things had seemed like they were going so much better, especially in the last few weeks. There hadn’t been any of these really bad nights, and Madison had actually been opening up more instead of simply lashing out with anger and spitefulness when she felt scared or hurt. She had started to let Zoe see into her life and seemed like she was doing what she could to show Zoe how much she meant to her.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Madison if there was progress without some sort of setback. Making her way over to Madison’s bed, Zoe looked down at her as a particularly violent shake made a few picture frames fall off the wall and shatter. Madison was tossing and turning fitfully, whimpering quietly.

“Madison,” she murmured, hoping that she would wake quickly. Zoe knew from experience that trying to wake Madison up by shaking her shoulder was a bad idea- she had very nearly ended up with a black eye the first time she had tried that. For some reason, Madison didn’t react as poorly to Zoe stroking her hair, so that’s typically what Zoe resorted to.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Zoe gently carded her fingers through Madison’s blonde locks, whispering assurances that she was safe.

“You’re safe, you’re safe. I’m here, and I won’t leave you. No one can hurt you right now. Come on, Madi, wake up. We’re in our room at the academy. We’re safe.”

Zoe still didn’t know everything about Madison or her past, but she knew enough to know that any one of many, many things that had happened to the girl had the potential to cause an event like this. Honestly, she wasn’t sure that Madison would even tell her what it was about once she woke up. Madison hadn’t had a nightmare with a reaction this bad in quite a while, but she still had frequent nightmares. She didn’t always tell Zoe, but Zoe could usually tell.

The room shook violently once more before Madison shot upright. Looking like she had no idea where she was, she drew her legs up to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible.

“Hey, Madison, Madison, look at me,” Zoe said, trying to get the Madison’s attention. 

The room had stopped quaking as soon as Madison had woken up, which Zoe was glad for. Cordelia usually gave Zoe some space to work with when Madison had her bad nights because Madison typically responded much better to Zoe than anyone else, but Zoe thought that Cordelia probably would have come to investigate had it lasted much longer.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Zoe asked quietly, taking Madison’s trembling hand in her own. Madison didn’t look to be at the point where she could talk about it, but Zoe wanted to at least give her the option. She also knew that if they didn’t talk about it tonight, it probably would never get discussed at the length Zoe wanted. Madison always insisted that she was fine and that nothing had happened the morning after these episodes. If Zoe hadn’t been there during her bad nights, she never would have guessed that anything had happened when she saw Madison the next morning. Ever the actress, Madison was an expert at hiding her feelings deep, deep down.

Shaking her head slightly, Madison finally looked at Zoe. She was still breathing hard, but it looked like she was finally a bit calmer. She squeezed Zoe’s hand tight, pulling her closer. Zoe had learned that physical touch was sometimes difficult for Madison, but that she really desired the closeness, especially during her bad nights.

Without letting go of Madison’s hand, Zoe slipped under the covers and settled next to Madison. Madison curled into her, nuzzling her face into Zoe’s neck. Zoe knew that Madison would deny everything in the light of day, but under the cover of darkness, they were able to do anything. 

Zoe felt wetness against her neck and realized that Madison was crying. Bringing her hand up, Zoe started brushing her hand through Madison’s hair, hoping to calm her down again.

“I’m sorry,” Madison whispered after a little while, so soft that Zoe could barely hear it. Zoe wasn’t sure if she was supposed to hear it. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Madison,” Zoe replied. “None of this is your fault. The things that happened to you weren’t your fault. You were dealt a really shitty hand.”

“Some of the things were my fault. And I’m not… I’m not a good person. I’m too fucked up.”

“Madi, look at me. You may not be perfect, but no one is. You’ve done some things that aren’t great, but I see you trying every day, and that’s what matters. You are not too fucked up, and I know that deep down, you are a good person.”

Madison sucked in a deep breath, holding it for a minute. Zoe didn’t know if she was saying the right things, but she knew she had to try in these moments when Madison let her in. Although she hated seeing Madison have nights like these, she was also sort of grateful for the opportunity to get a glimpse inside Madison’s head. It was one of the only times she was able to get through to Madison without her running away from her feelings.

Zoe knew that no one had ever been there for Madison like she was, and Madison didn’t always know how to react to that. She also knew that while Madison hadn’t changed completely, there were many more glimpses of someone who cared about people other than herself under the hard mask that Madison always wore now that she and Zoe were dating.

As the minutes ticked by, Madison’s breathing grew more regular. Zoe took that as a sign that their talk was over, and she pressed a soft kiss to the top of Madison’s head.

“Don’t forget, I love you. I’m always here for you,” Zoe murmured quietly, pulling Madison tighter into her embrace. Just as she was about to drift off, Zoe heard Madison’s reply.

“I love you too.”


	11. Chapter 11

For Zoe, Thanksgiving was one of those holidays that was forgettable. It was even more forgettable after she had been sent to Miss Robichaux’s Academy, because Thanksgiving was supposed to be all about family, and her family clearly seemed like they could care less about having their whole family together.

Although Zoe considered the girls at the academy her family now, the holidays could still be a little bittersweet. Some of the girls went home, but many of them stayed right where they were at the academy. It did make things easier to know that many of them were in the same situation, but not everyone acted in a way that made things easy.

Luckily, Cordelia seemed to know how her girls were feeling, and she always made an effort to make sure the holidays were as smooth and happy as possible. The smells of holiday cooking wafted through the house all day, festive music filled the air, and she always tried to spend time with each of the girls individually. 

So far, Zoe thought that it had been a pretty nice Thanksgiving overall. The girls who were left at the academy were gathered around the dining room table, having a nice Thanksgiving dinner. Well, almost all of the girls were at the table. Zoe sighed as she looked around the table again. She had looked for her roommate all day, but Madison had been gone by the time she had woken up, and Zoe hadn’t seen her since.

In the time Zoe had known Madison, she had noticed that Madison always seemed to skip out on the holiday celebrations or the days when there was more closeness than normal amongst the girls. Zoe knew that she wasn’t going home, and she didn’t think that she had anyone else she was going to spend the days with, but Madison was always gone during those special times.

Zoe had been hoping this year would be different now that the two were dating, but it looked like nothing had changed. She was a little hurt, especially since Madison hadn’t discussed it at all, or even told her what she was doing instead, but she wasn’t overly surprised. Madison was still Madison, and she couldn’t expect the girl to change that much just because they were together.

Chatting with the other girls, Zoe let her thoughts about Madison drift to the back of her mind. She was really enjoying the company of the girls, and the food was really delicious this year. Scooping another portion of mashed potatoes onto her plate, Zoe smiled across the table at Cordelia. 

Cordelia was a constant presence in Zoe’s life that she was so grateful for. Cordelia knew so much about magic and about life, and Zoe was so glad that she was able to know her and learn from her. Zoe had already learned so much, but she knew she had only scratched the surface of everything.

As the food started to disappear more and more, all that could be heard was the clinking of silverware on the plates. Things were definitely starting to wind down, and everyone seemed like they were ready to go on to whatever they would be doing after eating.

One by one, the girls left the table, until the only ones left were Zoe, Cordelia, and Misty. As Zoe was about to excuse herself, the door to the house banged open. A few moments later, a clearly tipsy Madison waltzed into the room.

“Aww, a family dinner,” Madison crooned sarcastically. “How cute.”

“Madison, you were invited to join us, but just because you chose not to doesn’t mean you should put it down for the rest of us,” Cordelia responded calmly, giving Madison a long look.

“Whatever,” Madison replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s not like any of you actually cared I was gone. Did you even notice?”

At that, Zoe got up, walked over to Madison, and pulled the other girl out of the room, saying goodnight to Cordelia and Misty as she and Madison left. She figured Cordelia and Misty wouldn’t mind being left alone together, anyways.

“What is your problem?” Zoe asked once they were out of earshot of the others. “Of course we noticed you weren’t there. And I would have really liked it if you had been there with us, with me. Why are you being such a bitch?”

Zoe stood there, staring Madison down, but to her frustration, Madison simply stared right back at her. Throwing her hands in the air, Zoe groaned in annoyance.

“Fine, I give up. If you want to be like this, then you can do it alone, just like you wanted today.” Zoe started stomping off, fuming.

“Whatever, walk away. I understand. Everyone does it in the end. I shouldn’t have expected you to be any different,” Madison called after Zoe. Zoe wasn’t sure if Madison actually believed what she was saying or if she was only saying it to get a rise out of Zoe. Either way, Zoe was sick of Madison’s attitude of the night.

“I’m not trying to walk away. Why are you pushing me away? Why can’t you let me in?” Zoe asked, her voice wavering slightly. “If you would talk to me, this kind of thing wouldn’t happen.”

“Because every time I let someone in, I get hurt,” Madison said, eyes blazing. “I’m done with that,” she added, mumbling.

“Do you really think I’m like that?” Zoe asked, voice cracking, feeling even more hurt than before.

“No, and that’s what scares me,” Madison said, eyes piercing deep into Zoe’s soul. “But I’m even more afraid that I’m going to hurt you.” She paused, biting her lip. 

“Why today? Why did you leave all day? Why couldn’t you just tell me this earlier?” Zoe asked, wondering if this just happened to fall on Thanksgiving, or if there was a deeper issue.

“Nothing good ever happens on holidays,” Madison scoffed, avoiding Zoe’s eyes. “It’s just better to make sure you’re not around when the bad stuff happens. But I guess I did a pretty shitty job of avoiding the drama tonight.”

“Well, yeah, you kind of caused the drama,” Zoe replied, still a little mad that Madison hadn’t told her any of this before. 

“Too bad I’m not a perfect princess like you,” Madison said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you, and as long as you actually communicate with me, you’re not going to hurt me. But I wish you would trust me and the others a little more. I know it’s not easy, but will you please try? I really wanted you there today, and you weren’t there. It was a fun day that you missed,” Zoe continued, ignoring Madison’s somewhat hurtful statement.

“It’s not that easy, Zoe. I can’t just do that,” Madison shouted, looking upset. “I’m trying,” she continued, lowering her voice. “I’m really trying. But it’s fucking hard. You think I can just make everything go away because I feel like it? It doesn’t work like that.”

“You’re trying? You weren’t even here today! How is that trying? You’re just a coward and a bitch who can’t deal with her issues,” Zoe yelled back, losing her temper.

Looking at Madison, Zoe could tell that she had taken it too far. She saw the exact moment Madison’s strong exterior crumbled, unshed tears appearing in the blonde’s eyes. Zoe tried reaching out her hand to try to comfort Madison, to try to take back a little of the damage she caused, but Madison backed away, looking at Zoe with a look of betrayal.

“Mad-” Zoe started, but she was cut off quickly by Madison. She knew she had crossed a line, and really, she knew it wasn’t as simple as she had made it sound. 

“Don’t,” Madison said fiercely, her walls clearly back up and fortified, before turning and running up the stairs.

Zoe sunk down on the bottom step and buried her face in her hands. How could she have said those things? Yes, she was frustrated with Madison, but that didn’t give her any right to throw things Madison was sensitive to right at her. Warm tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, and she squeezed them tight, trying to keep herself slightly composed.

“Zoe? Is everything okay?” Cordelia’s voice reached Zoe, who looked up to see Cordelia and Misty standing in front of her.

“We heard yellin’,” Misty added, looking at Zoe with concern.

Usually, Zoe would be glad to see Cordelia and Misty making sure that everything was fine, but she just felt an overwhelming amount of guilt. The tears that she had mostly managed to keep back were flowing freely now, and she couldn’t look either of them in the eyes.

“I… I said some things… Madison hates me,” Zoe choked out, feeling extremely guilty. She saw Misty and Cordelia exchange a look before Cordelia followed the path Madison had taken upstairs. Misty sat down next to Zoe and put her arm around her shoulders.

“Aw, darlin’, she won’t hate you,” Misty said softly.

“I said some really mean things. I didn’t mean to, but she… she was just being so infuriating. Why is she like that? And why does it make me so mad?” Zoe let all her thoughts come out loud, and it felt good to be able to talk about it. Misty didn’t know Madison that well, but Zoe just appreciated being able to talk to someone about her problems.

“Madi has her problems, but so do the rest of us. I’m sure she was sayin’ things she regrets too.” Misty paused for a second. “It seems like you’re good for her. Delia thinks so too. Everyone fights sometimes, but it just matters what you do after.”

Zoe and Madison had fought before, no doubt about that, but Zoe thought this time felt different. They were usually able to make up relatively quickly, but Zoe felt like she had taken it too far by telling Madison that she wasn’t able to handle all of her issues. If even just a few of the things that had happened to Madison had happened to Zoe, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to cope healthily either.

Now, Zoe was worried that Madison wouldn’t let her back inside the carefully constructed walls that Zoe had so painstakingly broken down the first time. Zoe knew that this wasn’t all her fault, and that Madison shared a fair bit of the blame too, but she was just worried. Plus, if Zoe wasn’t there to stop her, would Madison do something else after this argument?

“Delia is with her now, but maybe you should go check in on them,” Misty said, looking Zoe in the eyes. “I think she’ll be glad if you do.”

“She probably doesn’t want to see me,” Zoe mumbled, but she got up anyway. “Thanks, Misty.”

Making her way upstairs, Zoe wiped the last of the tears off her face. She walked to their room, but to her surprise, there was no one inside when she opened the door. Following a hunch, she went over to Cordelia’s room. She paused in front of the door and took a deep breath when she heard voices inside. She wasn’t sure why Madison and Cordelia were in Cordelia’s room instead of their room, but she had more pressing things to focus on.

Zoe knocked quietly, not sure if she should go in or wait until she was invited in. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long until Cordelia opened the door. Cordelia gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand before walking away, leaving the door open.

Seeing Madison curled up in a ball on the bed snapped Zoe into action. She quickly walked over to Madison and sat hesitantly on the bed next to her. Madison didn’t acknowledge Zoe’s presence at all, but more surprisingly, she didn’t make any attempt to put her walls up. All she did was stare blankly at Zoe and sniffle a little. 

Even though she was feeling sorry that she had said things that had made Madison feel bad, Zoe was still upset that Madison had acted the way she had.

“Hey,” Zoe said softly, reaching out and setting her hand softly on Madison’s head. Madison flinched back, but didn’t move away once Zoe’s hand was settled on her head. When Madison didn’t respond, Zoe sighed.

“Madison, this isn’t going to work if we can’t communicate. I know you’re trying, but you need to let me in. I care too much about you and about us to just let this go.”

“I’m sorry,” Madison whispered. “I know I can be a lot. I shouldn’t have taken off without at least talking with you first. It’s just really hard for me on days like today, where everyone is all focused on family and togetherness and shit. I should have realized that I have all of that with you instead of thinking of everything that I lost in the past. You’re all I need. You’re all I want, and I really hope I didn’t ruin that,” she continued, tears glistening in her eyes.

Zoe was really surprised that Madison was opening up so much, but she was really grateful that Madison seemed to understand how much Zoe needed that open communication. 

“Thank you,” Zoe said softly, leaning down to kiss Madison’s temple. “That’s the kind of thing I need to hear. But next time, can you tell me all that before instead of after?” Zoe attempted to use humor to diffuse the situation a little, but she was still very serious. She smiled at Madison, and Madison managed a weak smile back, sitting up in the process.

“I’ll try. Now can we go back to our room? I don’t even want to think about what Cordy does in here,” Madison said, making a face. Zoe could tell she was back to trying to minimize her feelings again, but she was glad that the two of them had managed to make a little progress.

Zoe followed Madison out the door, wondering if Cordelia had been waiting outside the whole time, but she didn’t see the older witch. She didn’t know what Cordelia had said to Madison, but it had really seemed to help diffuse the situation. Zoe was extremely grateful for both Cordelia and Misty’s help, and she was also really glad that Madison had opened up to her, even if it was short-lived. If they could keep up the open communication, she knew that she and Madison would be okay.


	12. Chapter 12

Going shopping with Madison could be fun, but Zoe typically didn’t enjoy the experience all that much. For one thing, it took Madison forever to try on everything and pick what she was actually going to buy. She could never decide right away, and Zoe got tired of listening to her complain about why each item of clothing wouldn’t work.

There is another big reason Zoe didn’t like going shopping with Madison, but it is also the reason she feels like she has to go with her. 

Madison liked shopping at the higher end stores every once in a while, which was fine, but those stores also seemed to come with an annoying salesperson who would hover around and make annoying comments about how wonderful the clothes looked. Zoe thought they were just trying to get people to buy the clothes, but the comments always ticked her off.

One day, Madison dragged an already huffy Zoe through the door of one said store. Zoe did not want to be there, but Madison had promised that she would be quick. She was looking for a dress for a special occasion.

“Why can’t you just wear one of the dresses you already own?” Zoe grumbled, annoyed that they had to take time from their afternoon together so Madison could go into a stuffy shop to buy a new dress.

“I told you, none of those dresses are going to work. You could always try something on while you wait. We could even share a dressing room,” Madison replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder and smirking. Zoe frowned.

“Ugh, just hurry up.”

Madison raised her eyebrows, giving Zoe a look. Zoe knew she was in a bad mood, but she didn’t make any effort to change it. She just wanted to get out of there and get back home. There were a lot of things she wanted to get accomplished, and this detour wasn’t helping. 

“Okay, grumpy pants,” Madison said, disappearing further into the store.

Zoe sighed. She didn’t mean to be so moody, and she really didn’t mean to take it out on Madison, but she was just done with the day. She started flipping through the clothes on the rack closest to her, but stopped when the saleslady gave her a dirty look. Rolling her eyes, she wandered over to where the dressing rooms were and pulled out her phone. At least she could get a little reading done while she was stuck waiting for Madison.

After sitting there for forty minutes, Madison finally emerged wearing a dark green dress. She gave a small spin.

“What do you think?” she asked, looking over at Zoe, but Zoe shook her head.

“Not your color,” she said, looking back down at her phone. Before Madison could disappear into the dressing room, the saleslady reappeared.

“Oh, honey,” she said, her voice dripping with falseness. “It looks absolutely gorgeous on you!”

“Thanks,” Madison said, turning away and moving back into the dressing room. With how much Zoe disliked shopping with Madison, the two had worked out a system that worked pretty well. Madison tried everything on, narrowed it down to her favorite few, and then showed all of those to Zoe.

She reappeared a couple minutes later wearing a sparkly blue dress. Zoe shook her head again.

“That one looks too much like that other one you have. Plus, sparkles?”

“You look stunning!” the saleslady gushed again, and Zoe couldn’t help giving her the stink eye.

“Just one more. I think I like the last one best,” Madison replied, walking back into the dressing room. She came out dressed in a beautiful dress that was deep red. Even with how annoyed Zoe was, she couldn’t help her mouth opening a little.

“That’s it,” Zoe said with a sly smile on her face. Honestly, she wanted to follow Madison back into the dressing room and show Madison just how much she liked the dress, but she held herself back. They were still in public, and they didn’t do much in terms of public displays of affection.

She also held herself back from punching the saleslady in the face after another dumb comment.

“I don’t think ravishing is a strong enough word,” the lady said, looking Madison up and down.

“I knew this was it,” Madison said, appraising herself in the mirror mounted on the wall outside the dressing room. She bounced back into the dressing room, smiling, before exiting wearing her own clothes after a few moments. “Let’s go,” she said, walking past where Zoe was sitting.

Zoe trudged behind Madison all the way to the counter, her brief happy mood brought about by seeing Madison in that dress gone because of how the stupid saleslady was acting. Luckily, she had walked so slowly that Madison was already well into the transaction.

“Thank you so much for shopping here,” the lady said. “And may I say, you look so amazing in that dress. Please come again! I’d be more than happy to help you personally,” she added, clearly checking Madison out.

“Oh, get over yourself,” Zoe mumbled, just loud enough for the lady to hear, before storming out of the store. She made it past a few stores before Madison finally caught up.

“What the hell was that?” Madison asked incredulously. “You’ve been pissy ever since we went in there.”

“Oh, like you don’t know,” Zoe replied, trying to walk even faster. She was just plain mad, and now she just wanted to be alone.

“Wait, are you… jealous?” Madison asked, completely stopping in her tracks. Zoe stopped too and spun around to face her.

“Of course, I’m jealous! That lady was practically all over you! She needed to back off,” Zoe ranted, fuming.

“Well, I’m hot and a movie star. What do you expect?” Madison replied, smirking. The smirk was just the thing to push Zoe over the edge. She grabbed Madison’s wrist and pulled her into the small alley between two buildings, kissing her hard against the wall.

“You’re mine,” Zoe growled, nipping at Madison’s bottom lip. Madison just smiled, kissing Zoe back with matched passion.


	13. Chapter 13

It had taken all of the blankets in their room, but Zoe thought that the blanket fort currently taking up most of their room was completely worth it. She had spent a few hours making it perfect, and it was looking really good. Zoe hadn’t made a fort in a long time, but she had decided that it was the perfect evening for it.

Throwing all of her and Madison’s pillows into the fort, Zoe crawled in after. She made a comfy nest of pillows and the one blanket she had saved out in the middle and smiled. This would be perfect. As much as she loved spending time with everyone, sometimes she just needed a little bit of time alone, or time alone with Madison.

Madison wasn’t supposed to be back for a little while, so Zoe knew she had just enough time to finish getting everything ready for the two of them. Madison didn’t have any idea of what was waiting for her at home, and Zoe was excited to surprise her. Actually, Zoe wasn’t sure that Madison would like a blanket fort, but she didn’t think Madison would be opposed to spending more time with Zoe.

Running downstairs to grab some supplies, Zoe almost crashed into Misty after turning a corner too fast.

“Sorry, Misty,” Zoe said quickly, “I didn’t see you there.”

“What’s got ya in such a hurry?” Misty asked, reaching out to steady Zoe.

“Nothing much. Just trying to get everything set before Madison gets home. We’re having a movie night,” Zoe explained, smiling at Misty. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Ah, a movie night,” Misty’s response made Zoe blush, though she wasn’t sure that Misty had meant anything by it. “Delia and I were going out ta dinner tonight. She said something ‘bout ‘real food’, but I just made her real food last week.”

Zoe could barely hold back the giggle that wanted to come out at that. Misty wasn’t exactly known for her good cooking. Most of the things she made were pretty exotic, and the combinations didn’t always work too well. Misty meant well, though, and Zoe thought that it was sweet that she tried.

“Maybe Cordelia just wanted to take you to a nice restaurant. I’m sure she loved your cooking too,” Zoe said, grinning. “It sounds really fun, though. I hope you have a good time.”

“Well, thanks, Zoe! See ya later!” Misty enthused, letting Zoe pass her.

Misty and Cordelia were really sweet together, and Zoe loved seeing how the two of them interacted. It made her feel like there was hope for her relationship with Madison for the future. Zoe hadn’t been around much to see what Hank and Cordelia’s relationship was like, but from what she had seen and from what Madison told her, it really wasn’t a great situation. Zoe was glad for both Cordelia and Misty that they had found happiness with each other.

Making her way into the kitchen, Zoe grabbed a bag of popcorn and tossed it in the microwave. Hearing the popping start, she grabbed a few other things she thought they would need for their movie night. She had a box of Milk Duds stashed upstairs to make sure no one else ate it, but everything else was still in the kitchen.

Pouring the popcorn into a bowl, Zoe made her way back upstairs. After setting up the snacks and her laptop in the blanket fort, she stayed in the fort, waiting for Madison to get back. Luckily, her timing was almost perfect, as Madison walked through the door just a few minutes later.

“What the hell is this?” Madison asked, stopping just after she entered their room.

“Shut up and get in the blanket fort,” Zoe replied, poking her head out of the fort. Zoe had a feeling that Madison had never made or been in a blanket fort before, so she was determined to get Madison inside the fort.

“Who left all this shit in our room?” Madison continued, completely ignoring Zoe. “I’m NOT getting in there.”

“Oh, yes, you are,” Zoe said forcefully, glaring at Madison. “Don’t make me drag you in here.”

Madison rolled her eyes, but finally got down and crawled into the fort, grumbling the whole time.

“Oh, quit being such a baby,” Zoe said, rolling her eyes right back at Madison. “I’ll even let you pick the movie.”

That got Madison to stop whining, though it made Zoe a little nervous. She didn’t know what kind of movie Madison was going to pick, and she hoped it wouldn’t be a horrible one. Sometimes Madison picked good movies, but sometimes her picks were bizarre.

“Why did you even build this monstrosity?” Madison asked, flipping through all the movie choices.

“It’s not a monstrosity, it’s a beautiful feat of architecture,” Zoe countered, thwacking Madison with one of the loose pillows. Madison fell over, pretending to be injured.

“I guess I can’t watch the movie now,” Madison groaned exaggeratedly, flopping over to the ground. Zoe sighed, but decided that this could actually work out in her favor. Moving over to Madison, Zoe threw one leg over Madison’s hips so she was straddling her.

“Maybe I can kiss it better,” Zoe breathed, leaning down and capturing Madison’s lips in a heated kiss. Zoe let herself get lost in the kiss, her hands tangled in Madison’s hair. They only broke apart when Zoe accidentally kicked one of the supports of the fort over, causing the blankets to fall on top of them.

Zoe groaned in frustration, and she could have sworn that she heard a similar noise come from Madison. She quickly fixed the fort and returned to sitting next to Madison.

“Sooooo, about that movie?” Zoe prompted, grinning stupidly at Madison.

“Are you shitting me right now?” Madison glared at Zoe.

“Nope. We’re going to stay in this fort, watch a movie, and cuddle for the next twelve years and you are going to enjoy every second of it,” Zoe said, poking Madison to emphasize the last few words. 

Without looking, Madison grabbed a movie out of the pile and handed it to Zoe.

“Fine, here. Now can we get back to what we were doing before?” Madison asked, sounding slightly desperate. Zoe just smiled sweetly at her, popping the movie in. She settled back into the pillows, grabbing the popcorn bowl and placing it between her and Madison.

As the beginning credits started rolling, Zoe grabbed a handful of popcorn and started munching on it. She finished what she had in her hand, but before she could reach for another handful, Madison scooted over and snuggled into her side. Zoe leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

Zoe actually started watching the movie, enjoying the closeness of Madison. She started tracing patterns on Madison’s side and stomach and heard Madison emit a soft hum. Zoe smiled again, something that happened quite a bit when she was with Madison.

After a short time, Madison turned to face Zoe and kissed her softly. The soft kisses eventually turned more passionate, and soon enough, it was a full on make out session. 

Movie completely forgotten, Zoe completely lost herself in Madison. Her mind was completely blank aside from how Madison was making her feel. Though it felt like just an instant of kissing and wandering touches, Zoe realized that the movie was stuck on the main title loop, which meant that the movie was long over. 

“Hey, Mads,” she murmured, pulling away slightly from Madison. Madison’s hair was mussed up, and she looked slightly out of breath, but Zoe thought she looked beautiful. “I think the movie is over,” she whispered, afraid of breaking whatever spell they were under.

“Who cares?” Madison replied, curling back up into Zoe’s side. It was getting late, so Zoe simply closed her laptop and cuddled up to Madison, pulling up the blanket to cover them both. She drifted off to sleep in Madison’s arms, as content as she could ever remember being.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Being drugged, mentions of rape

Although Zoe didn’t like going out to parties as much as Madison, she did like getting out every once in a while. If she and Madison were going out on a date, they both usually picked something a little quieter than a party, but they still found themselves at parties every so often, usually at Madison’s insistence.

As it so happened, it had been Madison who had organized a date night for them. Even after dating for a while, Zoe had no idea what to expect when it came to Madison choosing their dates. Sometimes, she would choose something quiet like dinner at a nice restaurant, but other times, she chose weird things like swimming with sharks. Yeah, Zoe hadn’t loved that one.

Zoe had been pleasantly surprised with Madison’s choice for the afternoon. They had ridden the ferry down the river and then walked around the city, and Zoe had really enjoyed it. Once the sun had started to set, Madison had brought up the idea of going to a nearby party.

“Come on, Zo. We don’t have to stay long. We haven’t been out forever,” Madison said.

Sighing, Zoe weighed her options. She didn’t really want to go to a party, but Madison was right that they hadn’t been to one in a long time. As long as they stuck together and didn’t end up staying for too long, she supposed that it would be okay.

“Fine, but I really don’t want to stay very long. And you have to promise to not ditch me this time,” she said, staring Madison down.

“Okay, okay,” Madison agreed happily, leaning over to give Zoe a quick kiss. “It’s going to be great.”

So that was how Zoe found herself walking through the door of a nice-looking house a couple hours later. Madison dragged her further inside before squeezing her hand and letting go quickly once they reached where the drinks were. Madison grabbed one for herself and handed one to Zoe, smiling.

For a while, things were just fine at the party. Madison stuck with Zoe, and they were having a good time. After some time, Madison left for a smoke break, and since Zoe was deep in conversation with another girl, she didn’t go with.

Zoe was enjoying her surprisingly deep discussion with the other girl, so it took her longer than usual to realize that Madison should have been back by then. Eventually, she noticed and made her excuses to the girl she had been talking with.

She looked outside, but couldn’t see Madison anywhere. This surprised Zoe a little, since she had been expecting to see Madison out smoking, but the blonde was nowhere to be found. Going back inside, Zoe started looking around the crowd, but when she still couldn’t see Madison, she started opening random doors. She saw a few things she would rather forget (ick), and passed a creepy looking guy who was also opening doors, but didn’t see any trace of Madison until she opened a door to one of the bedrooms.

Madison was tucked into the corner of the room, arms wrapped around herself tightly. The way she was acting reminded Zoe of the way Madison acted sometimes after she woke up from her nightmares. Even when Zoe crouched in front of her, Madison didn’t seem to be focused on her or the present situation.

“Madi?” she asked hesitantly, wondering what exactly was going on with her girlfriend. When she got no response, she brought her hand up to rest on Madison’s shoulder. Madison shrunk further into herself, but raised her eyes up to meet Zoe’s, seeming to focus a little more, but definitely not focused completely.

“Z-Zoe?” Madison asked shakily. “I thought you had left me here,” she continued, slurring her words and sounding confused.

“Why would I ever do that?” Zoe asked, crouching down in front of Madison. Zoe was getting more concerned by the minute. Madison did love to drink, and it was possible that Madison had gotten drunk in the time they had been at the party, but when she had been with Zoe, she hadn’t had much to drink at all. Zoe knew she could definitely hold her liquor, so she would be surprised if that was the only problem.

Flashing back to the first night she had met Madison, Zoe remembered how Madison had been drugged. Even though Madison was the one all the horrible things had happened to that night, that night had been traumatic for Zoe. Seeing Madison on that bed, hearing her sad whimper of “it hurts” had broken Zoe’s heart.

Was it possible that Madison had been drugged again? Zoe hadn’t felt anything different from normal, so her drink was fine, but maybe Madison gotten a drink in the time they had been apart. Madison really did have the worst luck. Zoe frantically looked Madison over for any signs of anything else being amiss, but to her relief, Madison looked the same as when she had left, except for the way she was acting. Still, Zoe was worried.

“Madi, are you okay? Did anything happen to you? What happened after you left me?” Zoe bombarded Madison with questions, trying to make sure nothing had happened to her. Madison blinked a few times.

“I don’t feel right,” she admitted softly, leaning forward so her head was resting on Zoe’s shoulder. “I think I’m okay. I just… had a cigarette and got another drink?” She didn’t sound very confident and her voice was still slurred. “Did it happen again? Why-?” Madison cut off in the middle of her question, shoulders shaking as she started to cry into Zoe’s shoulder. Zoe gathered Madison into her arms and held her close, trying to comfort her. 

Zoe knew how careful Madison was with her drinks at parties, so she wasn’t sure how this had happened to her. Thinking back, she remembered the creepy guy she had seen opening doors when she had been looking for Madison. She wondered if he had anything to do with this situation and thanked her lucky stars that she had been the one to find Madison first. She couldn’t be absolutely sure that nothing had happened to Madison before she had found her, but it seemed like they had been lucky this time.

Holding Madison for a while longer, Zoe decided that they should try to get out of there before anything else happened.

“Do you feel like you can get up?” Zoe asked, giving Madison another once over. Madison nodded, but made no move to stand up. Moving so she could help Madison stand up, Zoe grunted as she ended up doing most of the work getting Madison to her feet. Once she was standing, Madison still didn’t seem in complete control of her body, as almost all of her weight was on Zoe.

Maneuvering carefully out of the room, then the house, Zoe tried to make sure Madison was still doing okay. It was really hard to tell, but it looked like she was still fine. She was still stumbling along, but since she weighed almost nothing, Zoe wasn’t having much trouble getting her to where they needed to go.

It took a while, but when they finally got home, Madison seemed like she was more in control of her body. They made it upstairs without making much noise, which was good, because Zoe definitely didn’t want to have to answer any questions. She still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, so it would be hard to explain it to anyone else. Plus, she was sure Madison wouldn’t be thrilled if anyone else knew what had happened to her.

Zoe sat Madison down on the bed before going into the bathroom and starting to fill up the bathtub. As much as she figured they both just wanted to sleep, she thought that Madison would probably want to wash off as much of the party as possible.

“Do you want to take a bath, Madi?” Zoe asked, crouching down in front of her. Madison nodded and started stripping off her clothes. Taking her hand, Zoe led her to the tub and helped her inside. Zoe stayed with Madison, washing her back, then her hair, and helping her dry off before they both got into bed.

Disregarding any notion of sleeping in her own bed, Zoe got straight into Madison’s bed, tangling their limbs together. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened again to Madison, but the what-ifs kept running through her head.

“Hey, Zo,” Madison whispered, her voice breaking through Zoe’s racing thoughts. “It’s okay.” Madison brought her hand up and placed it gently on the side of Zoe’s face, running her thumb along Zoe’s cheekbone.

“But-” Zoe started to protest, but Madison cut her off with a “shhhh”. Zoe pressed her face more firmly into Madison’s hand, trying to absorb as much comfort as possible from the small gesture.

“Will you tell me a story?” Madison asked, surprising the other girl.

“Okay,” Zoe agreed. “Once upon a time, there lived a sad girl. Her life was okay, but it was missing something big. The girl didn’t know it at the time, but when something bad happened and the girl was sent away to a school, she figured out what it was. The girl had been lonely, but she found a new family at the school. There were nice people there, and even the girl who came off as kind of mean ended up being the most important part of her life. The girl ended up happy and loved being with her new family. The end.”

It was a simple and rather boring story, but it was a true one, and Zoe felt like it was the right one to tell at the moment. Madison smiled at Zoe, bringing her forehead forward so it was touching Zoe’s.

“Well, that’s quite a coincidence. The sad girl ended up being the most important part of the mean girl’s life, too. And the mean girl was never happier than when they were together.”

Zoe smiled softly at Madison, wishing that Madison could get her happy ending without all the bad things she had endured so far, and seemed to continue to endure. It did make Zoe unbelievably happy to hear that Madison was never happier than when she was with Zoe. Madison wrapped her arms more tightly around Zoe’s middle and laid her head on Zoe’s chest.

Bringing her hand up so it was running through Madison’s hair, Zoe let herself focus on the moment instead of everything that had been. She could feel Madison’s steady breathing, and she let that lull her to sleep. In spite of everything, she was so glad that she was able to be with Madison like this, and she would do what she could to make sure Madison’s life would continue to be as happy as it could be.


	15. Chapter 15

“Shit!”

Zoe hissed in pain as she looked down at her arm. It was bleeding profusely after being sliced open by a particularly large piece of glass. This was not going to end well, especially since Zoe was starting to feel really numb.

“Zoe? Did you break something?” Madison’s voice was sounding weird and was echoing, but Zoe had never been happier to hear her voice. “Wait, is that blood? Are you bleeding?” Madison asked, her voice getting higher and louder with each word. She sounded worried, which did not make Zoe feel any better.

“Please don’t freak out. If you freak out, I’m gonna freak out,” Zoe managed to get out before the black spots dancing around her vision completely took over and she collapsed to the ground.

 

Moving to rub her hand over her eyes, Zoe winced as a dull pain shot through her arm. She cracked her eyes open, not quite aware of what was going on. 

Madison was sitting in a chair pulled right up next to her, typing frantically on her phone. 

“Mads?” Zoe asked, trying to get the blonde’s attention.

“Zoe! Are you okay? I was so worried!” Madison blurted out, surprising Zoe with the openness she was exhibiting.

“I’m fine, but what’s going on?”

At that moment, the door opened and a nurse and Cordelia entered the room.

“Ah, good, you’re awake,” the nurse said. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Zoe said, looking between all the people in the room. “Just a little confused. I remember I accidentally cut myself on some glass, but I don’t know what happened after that.”

“You just arrived at the hospital. It appears that you passed out from shock. You did lose a bit of blood, and that cut is deep enough to need stitches. We’re going to give you some IV fluids and numb the area around the cut before we stitch it up,” the nurse responded. “I’m going to gather some supplies, but I’ll be right back. Please let me know if you need anything.”

As the nurse walked out the door, Cordelia walked closer to the girls.

“Are you okay, Zoe? We were very concerned. Madison was quite anxious and made sure you got to the hospital so you could get all the help you needed,” Cordelia said, smiling softly at Zoe.

“Yeah, well, you were nowhere to be found, so I had to do something,” Madison scoffed, but she squeezed Zoe’s hand tightly as she spoke, and Zoe swore she could still see the worry in her eyes.

Any further conversation was cut off by the nurse and a doctor walking into the room.

“Ah, Miss Benson. I’m Dr. Watson. Do you mind if I take a look at your arm?” the doctor asked, putting some gloves on. Zoe held her arm out, wincing slightly. The nurse got started putting the IV in Zoe’s other arm as the doctor looked at the cut.

“Not too bad, but it definitely needs stitches,” Dr. Watson said, looking at Zoe. “We’ll get those fluids going, get you all stitched up, and then you should be able to be on your way in a bit. Sound good?”

Zoe looked over at Cordelia and nodded.

“Sounds great, doctor,” Cordelia said. “Thank you.”

As they started stitching Zoe’s arm, she grimaced. Even with the numbing stuff they put on, it still hurt quite a bit. She looked over at Madison, but Madison’s face was tight, her mask on in full force. Madison had moved away from the bed once the medical staff had come in, presumably to give them room to work, but Zoe missed her closeness. When Madison noticed Zoe looking over at her, she gave Zoe a small smile, though Zoe noticed it didn’t reach her eyes.

After a little while, the doctor put her tools down and stood up, taking her gloves off.

“Okay, then. We’ll let those IV fluids run for a little while longer, but then you should be good to go. Be careful when you get home; we don’t want to see you back here with another accident!” Dr. Watson said, smiling at Zoe.

“Thanks,” Zoe mumbled, embarrassed as the doctor left the room. The nurse went over all the instructions for taking care of her injury, but before she could completely finish, she was interrupted by Madison.

“So, like, when can we get out of here? I’m about to die of boredom, and I’d rather not take another trip to the morgue.”

“Madison!” Zoe and Cordelia both hissed at the blonde, although Zoe had been wondering how long she would have to sit there before they could leave.

“You should be able to go in about fifteen minutes. Now, don’t forget, you’ll have to get those stitches removed in about a week,” the nurse continued, unfazed by Madison’s interruption. “I will be back as soon as everything is done, and then you will be able to go.”

The nurse left, but as promised, she was back in a short time. She took Zoe’s IV out, reinforced the important parts of the care of her wound, and then let them go.

The ride home was very quiet. When they arrived, Cordelia made sure to stop Zoe to check in before she went upstairs. Madison lingered around them, not leaving Zoe.

“Are you still feeling okay?” Cordelia asked. Zoe nodded, giving Cordelia a small smile.

“I’m fine, but a little tired. Thank you for being there for me. I’m just going to go rest a little.”

Cordelia smiled back at her response before walking away, leaving Zoe and Madison to make their way upstairs. Again, Madison hovered behind Zoe as they walked upstairs.

“What are you doing?” Zoe asked, trying to figure out why Madison was acting so weird.

“If you pass out and fall down the stairs, we’ll have to go back to that horrible hospital, and I am not spending any more of my precious time there,” Madison responded, and Zoe felt a brief surge of happiness. Even if she still wasn’t great at showing it, Madison was concerned, and this was how she was expressing it.

Finally making it into their room, Madison basically forced Zoe to sit down on the bed right away. Zoe stretched out on the bed, but left room for Madison to lay beside her. Madison paced the room for a few moments, but eventually came and carefully arranged herself next to Zoe so that she was nowhere near Zoe’s injured arm.

“God, Zoe, I was so worried about you. Please don’t do that again,” Madison sighed, looking Zoe straight in the eyes.

“I’m okay, I promise,” Zoe said, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind Madison’s ear.

“No, really. You scared me. You mean so much to me, and I don’t want to live without you,” Madison said, her voice dropping to a whisper at the end. “I know it’s just a cut, but when you passed out, I didn’t know what I would do if something serious happened to you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Zoe whispered back. She leaned over and kissed Madison softly before wrapping her arms around her. “You mean so much to me too. I love you, Madi.”

“I love you too. Don’t you dare pull anything like that again,” Madison said, snuggling into Zoe’s side.


	16. Chapter 16

“No.”

“Come on, Mads. It’ll be fine.”

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“I am not going to do this. I’m not some push-over, Zoe.”

“Madison, we are going to go ice skating, drink some hot chocolate, and have fun. End of argument.”

“No,” Madison said, shaking her head.

“What is your problem with that? Do you trust me?” Zoe asked, taking Madison’s hands in her own and looking deep into her eyes. Madison sighed, but eventually responded.

“More than anything in this world.”

“Then at least give it a try. If you hate it, we can leave, okay?” Zoe replied, happy that Madison admitted how much she trusted her.

“Fine. But if I break something, it’s completely your fault,” Madison said, rolling her eyes. Zoe simply leaned over and kissed her cheek, excited for the day ahead.

And so that was how Madison and Zoe found themselves at the skating rink a little later that day. Zoe had skated enough to be able to stay on her feet reasonably well, but she had no idea if Madison had actually ever skated before. When she had asked, Madison had just blown her question off with a huff. Zoe was thinking that that meant Madison hadn’t ever been ice skating before.

Madison had made such a face at the rental skates that Zoe couldn’t help but snap a picture, saving it for blackmail in the future.

“Come on, it’s not going to hurt you,” Zoe said, taking a cue from Madison’s typical behavior and rolling her eyes at the blonde.

“I’m pretty sure that the stench coming from these is toxic, so yeah, it probably could,” Madison grumbled, but started to put the skates on when Zoe gave her puppy dog eyes.

Zoe finished putting her skates on, then moved over and helped her girlfriend when she saw that Madison was having trouble lacing up her skates. She stood up after making sure that Madison’s skates were on well, holding out her hand to help Madison up.

“How are people supposed to walk in these?” Madison grumbled as she stumbled a little upon standing.

“Well, you’re supposed to skate in them, not walk, so let’s just get on the ice,” Zoe answered, tugging Madison over to the entrance to the ice. 

They eventually made it without falling, and Zoe stepped onto the ice cautiously.

“Come on, Madi,” she said, waving the other girl onto the ice. Unfortunately, as soon as Madison stepped onto the ice, she lost her balance. The only thing that kept her from falling was Zoe catching her on the way down. Zoe stifled a giggle, knowing that if Madison heard, their time at the rink would be over.

“It’s okay, you can do it,” Zoe encouraged, smiling when Madison finally was able to stand up without flailing.

Slowly skating forward, Zoe looked behind her to see Madison stopped behind her. She skated back and took Madison’s hand, very slowly pulling her forward. They made it about a foot forward before Madison completely lost her balance, falling down and pulling Zoe down with her.

“This is dumb. Why are we doing this?” Madison complained, dusting herself off once Zoe got up and pulled her to her feet.

“Once you get it, it will be fun. Just try a little longer. Here, let’s try it like this,” she said, skating in front of Madison. She knew it was a bit of a risk, since she didn’t know how well she would be able to skate backwards, but she was willing to try if it would help Madison stay on her feet. She put her hands out so Madison could grab them in front of her, giving Madison a steadier foundation to hold on to.

Madison wobbled and nearly fell a couple of times, but Zoe was able to keep her from falling as they skated forward. Eventually, Madison’s face relaxed, and she was putting less of her weight on Zoe. Zoe took that as a sign that she would be able to move over to Madison’s side, just holding one hand again.

“So, is this horrible?” Zoe asked, looking over at Madison.

“I suppose it isn’t the worst. I mean, you’re a little handsy, but I’m not complaining about that,” Madison said, giving Zoe a look and raising her eyebrows. That made Zoe laugh, as she had stopped Madison from falling a few times by catching her, her hands landing all over Madison’s body.

Both girls ended up on the ice multiple times before they were done, but overall, Madison had done well for her first time ice skating. There was quite a bit of grumbling, but Zoe had fun, and she was pretty sure Madison did as well.

As they made their way off the ice, Madison looked over at a couple of kids that were on the ice. The kids were falling all over the place, but they were laughing and looked like they were having lots of fun.

“Okay, so I guess it was pretty fun,” Madison admitted freely, looking over at Zoe. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“I’m glad,” Zoe said, smiling. “It’s not like I try to find ways to torture you.”

“Sometimes I wonder,” Madison said under her breath, but gave Zoe a small smile anyway.

The girls returned their skates before walking over to a small coffee shop near the ice rink. They found two seats in a cozy corner of the shop after Zoe ordered them hot chocolates. There was a fireplace next to them, and Zoe was glad for the warmth after falling on the ice a few times. Ice rinks were cold, and the fire felt nice. Madison apparently felt the same, as she subtly made the flames grow a little bigger.

“What?” she asked when she saw Zoe looking at her. “It’s not like anyone is going to notice. Besides, you’re the one who made me freeze my ass off.”

Zoe chose not to comment, instead focusing on how beautiful she thought her girlfriend looked in the light of the fire.

“Let’s go home,” Zoe said, standing up suddenly.

“What? Why?” Madison asked, looking around to see if something was wrong.

“I have an idea for something we can do to warm up, but we definitely can’t do it here,” Zoe said, looking pointedly at Madison, who sat there for a moment before her face lit up in recognition.

“Oh!” was all she got out before Zoe tugged her out of her seat and out of the coffee shop.

When they got back to the academy, Madison dumped all of her things in the entrance before dashing off upstairs. Though Zoe wanted to follow just as quickly, she knew that the others wouldn’t appreciate all of their stuff in the middle of the floor, so she took a second to organize things quickly.

As she made her way upstairs, she heard Madison and Cordelia talking. Madison didn’t sound too happy to have been interrupted on her way to their room, but she hadn’t run away from Cordelia yet.

“Where are you off to so quickly? Did you already go ice skating?” Zoe heard Cordelia ask.

“What’s it to you?” Madison asked, but there was no malice in her tone. Zoe knew that she probably shouldn’t, but she stopped out of sight and listened for a moment, wondering what Madison would say.

“I was just wondering if you two had a nice time,” Cordelia responded, no hint of surprise in her voice at Madison’s brashness. Madison paused for a second.

“It was fun, but that’s mostly because Zoe was having fun. But you better not tell anyone I said that, got it?”

Zoe wished she could see their expressions, but unfortunately, she could only hear what they were saying.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Cordelia asked.

“Is it that obvious?” Madison asked dryly. “But, yes, she means the world to me,” she continued in a much softer tone.

“I’m really happy for you, Madison,” Cordelia said, sounding happy.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve got places to be, so are you going to keep interrogating me, or can I go?” Madison grumbled, but didn’t sound too annoyed.

“I’m done,” Cordelia said before Zoe heard the sound of footsteps. Deciding she had hidden herself long enough, she made her way back to her and Madison’s room, smiling the whole way.


	17. Chapter 17

Zoe had been looking around for Madison for quite a while with no success. She wasn’t in their room, in the living room, in the kitchen, or any of the other places Zoe had searched. Zoe really didn’t think Madison would be in the greenhouse, but she figured that Cordelia might be, and maybe Cordelia had an idea as to where Madison was.

As she made her way inside the greenhouse, Zoe heard a voice. It was Madison, and she couldn’t quite make out who she was talking to or what she was saying. Zoe really wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but she could hear more and more of what Madison was saying as she got closer.

Madison was sitting on the floor, holding a blanket in her lap. When Zoe looked closer, she saw that there was a tiny kitten inside the blanket, and it looked to be in rough shape. It was very small, and it was shaking quite a bit. The kitten had at least one cut that Zoe could see, and Madison was stroking the kitten’s head carefully.

“We’re both strays; we were both useless and unloved. The only difference is that now I have a home and a family who loves me, no matter how much I fuck up,” Madison was saying, looking down at the kitten. Zoe wasn’t hiding, but Madison hadn’t noticed her yet, and Zoe really didn’t want to interrupt her.

“There were a lot of mean people who hurt me, like they hurt you, and just like you, I didn’t trust anyone. But I learned that not everyone is out to get you, even if you still have to be careful. It’s okay to be yourself around the people who care about you.” Madison paused for a moment, but Zoe could tell she was going to continue, so she stayed silent.

“Cordelia is going to help fix you up, just like she helped me when I first got here. I was really a bitch, especially to her when I came here, but she didn’t give up on me. I know there were times where it seemed like she did, but she never stopped believing in me. Before Zoe got here, Cordelia was the only person in my life who cared about me at all. She was the first person to show me that people could care about me for things other than what they could take from me.” Madison smiled down at the kitten, wiping the few tears that had gathered in her eyes away.

“But you really have to meet Zoe,” Madison said, and Zoe could see how her eyes lit up, which made Zoe feel something deep and happy. “Zoe is the most amazing person ever. She is so kind and passionate about what she believes in. She makes me a better person every day, and even when I mess up, she is still there for me. She never asks for more than I am ready to share, and she has always been there for me. The first night we met was a really, really bad night for me, but she helped take care of me without even knowing me. She is so selfless and kind, and she makes me want to be a better person. She always believes in me and helps me when I am down. She is the most important person in my life, and I love her so much.”

Madison was cradling the blanket and the kitten to her chest now, holding it close like it was her lifeline. Before she could say anything else, Cordelia walked in.

"I gathered all the supplies we need. Are you ready to get started?” Cordelia asked, looking over at Madison and the kitten.

“Are- are you sure you want me to help?” Madison asked, sounding uncharacteristically hesitant.

“Yes, Madison. I need your help, and I know you can do it,” Cordelia said gently, looking Madison in the eyes.

Zoe decided that she had waited in the background long enough, so she stepped forward and made her presence known.

“Hey, what’s up?” Zoe asked, trying to figure out exactly how Madison had gotten a kitten.

“Zoe!” Madison exclaimed, looking surprised to see her.

“Hello, Zoe,” Cordelia said. “We were just about to help this kitten. Would you like to help?”

Zoe nodded and stepped forward so she was closer to Cordelia and Madison. Madison got up and placed the kitten and blanket on the table Cordelia had cleared off, but didn’t take her hands away from the kitten.

Cordelia moved the blanket away so she could examine the kitten better. The kitten was definitely underweight, her black fur was matted, and she had a wound on her side that was still bleeding.

“We need to get her cleaned up so we can take care of that wound. Everything else can be taken care of later, but that is our most pressing concern,” Cordelia explained, looking between Zoe and Madison.

“Okay,” Madison agreed, and Zoe nodded her head again in agreement.

Cordelia grabbed the basin filled with water and placed it next to the kitten. Madison scooped up the kitten and placed her gently in the water. Immediately, the kitten started moving around, trying to get out of the water.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Madison whispered to the kitten, stroking her head as she weakly mewled in protest.

Zoe and Madison worked together to get the kitten as clean as possible as Cordelia prepared her healing salve and bandages. The kitten did not seem happy at all, but stopped struggling after a while. After getting her washed up carefully, they took her out and dried her off, placing her in front of Cordelia. The kitten tried to scuttle off before Cordelia was ready, so Madison held her there gently.

Making sure the area around the kitten’s wound was dry, Cordelia gently applied the healing salve and bandages to the kitten’s side. Again, the kitten protested quietly, but allowed the girls to help her. Cordelia checked her over, making sure that they hadn’t missed any other wounds that had been hidden by the kitten’s matted fur.

Madison hadn’t stopped petting the kitten throughout the whole process, but it seemed like she was taking as much comfort from the kitten as the kitten was taking from her. After Cordelia was satisfied that they hadn’t missed anything, the kitten nuzzled into Madison’s hands until Madison picked her up and held her again.

“She should be fine now, but we’ll have to keep an eye on her for a while,” Cordelia said, looking at Madison. “Can I count on you to look after her while she recovers?”

Though she looked surprised, Madison clutched the kitten closer to her chest and nodded.

“Where did you find her?” Zoe asked, curious about the black kitten.

“I saw a dog dragging something, and when it passed me, I saw that it was a kitten. I couldn’t just leave it,” Madison explained. “It was all alone and hurt.”

“You did well, Madison,” Cordelia said, smiling at the girl. “I will take a look at her wound tomorrow, but please come find me if something happens before then,” she said before walking out of the greenhouse.

“What are you going to name her?” Zoe asked, reaching over to pet the kitten.

“I’m not sure. Maybe Ember?” Madison said, looking down at the kitten again.

“Ember,” Zoe repeated. “I like it.”

Cordelia’s cat came over, probably trying to investigate the noise. Hopping up on the table, the cat moved over towards Madison and sniffed at the kitten. Seemingly satisfied, it jumped back down to the ground, leaving Zoe, Madison, and the kitten together.

“I don’t know how to take care of a cat,” Madison said, looking at Zoe.

“It’s okay. I’ll help, and I know Cordelia can help us too,” Zoe responded. “And Ember seems to like you a lot.”

Madison smiled down at Ember and at Zoe. Even if they weren’t sure what they were doing, Zoe had a good feeling about this kitten and how she had already helped Madison open up.


	18. Chapter 18

The other girls were out, so Zoe and Madison had the place to themselves. Zoe thought that it would be the perfect time to get a little bit of Christmas decorating done. Madison was still asleep when Zoe went downstairs to get started on the decorating, but Zoe figured she would make her way downstairs at some point.

Putting some Christmas music on, Zoe looked through all the boxes that held the decorations. There were Christmas lights, ornaments, tinsel, and some other random things, but Zoe had plenty to start with. She was saving decorating the tree until everyone was home, but there were plenty of other things to decorate.

Wrapping some garland around the banister of the stairs, Zoe walked down the stairs, making sure that it was spaced uniformly apart. After finishing, she inspected them to make sure it looked okay and moved on to the next task.

Zoe lost herself in the task of making the inside of the house as festive as possible. Before she knew it, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle. She turned around to face Madison, kissing her.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Zoe said, smiling.

“Is it?” Madison replied, but she was smiling too. She walked over to the couch and sat down, not bothering to ask if she could do anything to help. Zoe rolled her eyes, but continued putting up decorations, wanting to finish as much as possible before the others got home.

After a while, Zoe grabbed her laptop and turned the Christmas music off, turning the movie Elf on instead. She went around and turned all the normal lights off and the Christmas lights on, giving the room a cheerful glow.

She nestled in next to Madison, glad that they were able to share this time together. Getting lost in the movie, Zoe was almost startled when Madison started laughing hard at one of the parts of the movie. It wasn’t that often that Zoe was able to see Madison so free and happy, so she watched her for a while instead of the movie. Eventually, Madison noticed.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Zoe replied, grinning. “You’re just so great.”

Madison reached over and paused the movie.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she said, glaring at Zoe, though Zoe didn’t feel any power behind the glare.

“Like what?” Zoe asked innocently.

“All happy and smiling! It’s making me nervous,” Madison said, pouting. 

“I’m sorry, you’re just too beautiful for me to not admire you,” Zoe said. Madison leaned over and kissed her, but pulled away after a few moments.

“Fine, but let’s do that later. We have to finish the movie!” Madison insisted.

Zoe couldn’t help but laugh at that. There were few things that could distract her girlfriend from her, but Madison had never seen the movie, and apparently really liked it. She resumed the movie, and Madison moved closer to her, resting her head on Zoe’s shoulder.

They watched the rest of the movie without any further staring incidents. Well, at least without any that Madison brought up. By the time the movie was finished, Zoe was surprised that the others weren’t back yet. Madison seemed keen to take advantage of that fact, as she pushed Zoe down so that she was laying on her back and straddled her. 

“Let’s finish what we started earlier,” Madison said, planting her hands on both sides of Zoe’s head.

Madison leaned down and kissed her. Zoe’s hands came up and tangled in Madison’s hair, tugging slightly as Madison deepened the kiss. She hissed as Madison bit her lip, but didn’t make any move to pull away. They stayed like that for a while, until Madison tried to pull Zoe’s shirt off.

“Wait, what if everyone else comes back?” Zoe asked, breathless.

“Who cares?” Madison responded, equally out of breath. She pulled her own shirt off before moving to pull Zoe’s off again. 

“As much as I’d love to continue this, there’s one more thing we have to do before Misty and Cordelia get back,” Zoe said, groaning as she pulled away from Madison.

“What could possibly be so important?” Madison growled, pushing Zoe back down and kissing her again, hands creeping under Zoe’s shirt.

“This,” Zoe smirked as she held up some mistletoe. That made Madison stop and smile back with an evil grin.

“Okay, fine. But then we’re going upstairs to finish what we started,” Madison said, tugging her shirt back over her head.

Zoe grabbed the stepstool and hung the mistletoe in an inconspicuous spot near the front door, but still a spot where people walked relatively frequently.

“Maybe we should test it out,” Zoe said, laughing and leaning in to kiss Madison once she had both feet firmly on the ground. They shared a short kiss before Zoe pulled away again. Tearing herself away from Madison, she gazed at the other girl, enamored.

“There you go again,” Madison said, sounding annoyed. Madison closed the gap between them again, but the two pulled away again when they heard the door open. They moved away from the mistletoe, hoping to catch someone else under the mistletoe instead.

Luckily, their trap worked. Misty and Cordelia walked through the front door and stopped in the perfect spot, right under the mistletoe.

“What’s goin’ on?” Misty asked, staring at Zoe and Madison.

Instead of answering, Zoe and Madison ran upstairs, laughing, leaving Cordelia and a confused Misty under the mistletoe. Zoe stopped when she figured Misty and Cordelia wouldn’t be able to see them anymore, pulling Madison down with her to watch.

“Mistletoe,” they heard Cordelia say, and Madison and Zoe looked at each other with wicked grins. “Of course those girls would do that. I suppose we should take it down before it causes mayhem in the house.” 

“Mistletoe?” Misty asked, and Madison rolled her eyes. 

“Oh, come on, doesn’t she know anything?” Madison whispered before Zoe shushed her. When they looked back at Misty and Cordelia, they saw the two of them kissing briefly before they broke apart, both blushing slightly.

Zoe and Madison smiled at each other again, glad their plan had worked. Zoe had seen enough and didn’t want to get caught watching, so she pulled Madison back to their room, happy to pick up where they had left off earlier.

“You stopped so many times earlier that you’d better make it up to me,” Madison whispered in Zoe’s ear, pushing her down on the bed again. Zoe had absolutely no problem with that, and she was glad that she got all the decorating done earlier in the day, as they didn’t emerge from their room for a long time.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: This chapter gets a little violent

Zoe groaned as her eyes fluttered open. Her head was pounding and it was really hard for her to focus long enough to figure out what was going on. She was sitting on something hard and her arms were twisted in a really uncomfortable position. As she looked around, she realized that she had no idea where she was or what was going on.

Panicking, she looked around, trying to see something that would help her figure anything out. Her wrists were shackled to the wall behind her and though she tried to use any of her powers to help her get out of there, she was horrified to find that she wasn’t able to use any magic at the moment. How was that even possible?

Though she felt a momentary surge of relief when she saw Madison in one of the corners of the room, she realized that it probably was a really bad sign that both she and Madison had been taken by some unknown force. Had they gotten any of the others? Zoe looked around frantically, but she and Madison seemed to be the only ones in the room.

She couldn’t remember what had led to them being in this room, but Zoe tried hard to figure out what the last thing she remembered was. She was pretty sure that she and Madison had been out investigating something for Cordelia, but she couldn’t remember what.

Looking over at Madison again, she saw that Madison was in a very similar position to her, though Madison didn’t seem to be awake yet. There was a trickle of blood running down Madison’s temple, which worried Zoe. Though Zoe didn’t want to draw the attention of anyone bad who could be in the area, she needed Madison to be awake. She needed Madison to help her figure out what was going on.

“Madison,” she called softly, wishing she could get up and go over to her. When she got no response, she tried again, a little louder. Madison still didn’t respond, so Zoe focused on trying to figure out what had happened and how they could get out of there. She was terrified that Madison wouldn’t wake up, but she could see Madison breathing, so she knew the other girl was alive.

As more time passed, Zoe’s memories became clearer. She and Madison had gone to meet a girl, a witch, for Cordelia, but when they had arrived at the meeting place, they had been ambushed. Zoe still wasn’t sure who had taken them, but at least she had an idea of what had happened.

Racking her mind for ways to try to escape, Zoe heard Madison stirring.

“Madison?” Zoe called softly, hoping that Madison being awake would help them figure out a way to get out of there. “Are you okay? Oh, this is bad.” She was trying to keep it together, but she really felt like crying. She hated the feeling of helplessness she was currently feeling.

“Ugh, what happened? Are you okay?” Madison responded, tugging hard at her restraints. “And why isn’t my magic working?”

“This is bad. This is very, very bad,” Zoe said hopelessly.

“You already said that,” Madison said dryly, but Zoe thought she sounded worried.

“Well, it seemed like a good time to reiterate,” Zoe said.

“Zoe, it will be okay. We’ll find a way out of here, or Cordelia will come for us,” Madison said softly, probably sensing Zoe’s panic.

“Really? Can you promise me that we’ll both get out of here safely?”

“I… I can’t promise that…” Madison said hesitantly. “But I’ll do everything I can to get you out of here.”

Zoe thought that she was about to continue, but as soon as she opened her mouth, there was a loud clunk of a door opening.

“Well, well. Good to see you both awake,” a man Zoe didn’t know said as he walked toward the girls. He crouched down in front of Zoe. She tried to study him to see if she knew him from anywhere, but he didn’t look familiar at all.

“What do you want?” Zoe asked, trying to keep her voice from wavering. The man reached out and rested his hand on her head. She twisted her head, shaking his hand off quickly.

“Don’t touch her,” Madison spat. 

“Miss Montgomery,” he said, walking over to her. He grabbed her by the hair and violently yanked her head back. “You don’t make the orders around here, got it?” Madison stared him down, not making a sound. 

“As for why you’re here, well, you’ll see. You’ll serve your purpose,” the man said while appraising the two girls.

“What purpose? Who are you?” Madison asked once the man started walking back toward Zoe.

“You need to learn how to keep your mouth shut. I don’t answer to you,” he said, turning and kicking Madison hard in the side. Madison winced and doubled over but didn’t cry out. “If you’re going to be trouble, we’re going to have to separate you.”

Another man who had been waiting behind the first man came forward and released Madison from the wall. Her hands were cuffed behind her as he attempted to steer her toward the door.

“Get your hands off me, asshole,” Madison hissed, twisting to try to get away from the man.

“If you don’t start behaving, we’re going to have to take action,” the first man said before stopping in front of Madison grabbing her face and forcing her to look him straight in the eyes. “And I don’t think you’d like what I have in mind,” he said, releasing her.

Zoe didn’t like the evil glint in his eyes almost as much as she didn’t like Madison being taken away from her. She was too shocked and nervous to say anything until the other man finally managed to get a still fighting Madison out the door.

“W- what is going on? Where are you taking her?” Zoe stuttered out. She was too shaken to maintain her composure.

“She needed to be taught a lesson, and really, our plan only requires one witch,” the man stated cruelly before turning and following where the man had dragged Madison out the door.

Zoe was left alone with her racing thoughts. She was really worried about what was going to happen to her and Madison. Would the Coven be able to find them? Cordelia had known where they were going, but would she be able to trace them to where they currently were? Would she find them in time?

There was no way to tell how much time was passing, especially since Zoe was freaking out about the whole situation. By the time the men returned, Zoe was a bundle of nerves. The men were carrying some tools and had vicious looks on their faces.

“Tell us everything about Miss Robichaux’s Academy. How many people live there? What special powers do we need to be aware of?” the one man said, advancing menacingly.

“What? N-no. Where’s Madison?” Zoe asked, trying to scoot as far away from the man as possible.

The man slapped her hard across the face. Zoe let out a yell of surprise, cowering away from him. The slap seemed to knock something loose in Zoe, and she started yelling for Madison, yelling for help, for anyone.

“Scream all you want, no one is coming for you. They aren’t going to save you. I doubt they even care that you’re gone. And your friend? She’s dead, you know. You’re all alone.” 

“No!” Zoe yelled. She kicked her legs out at the man in anger. She didn’t want to believe him. No, she couldn’t believe him. She couldn’t lose Madison like that, not again. 

“Stop it, bitch! You are going to tell us what we need to know, or else,” the man said, trying to regain his balance. The second man walked over with a knife in his hand.

“Let. Me. Go!” Zoe yelled, struggling hard against her restraints.

“She’s too much of a liability,” she heard one man say to the other. “You’re not gonna get anything out of her. Just your luck that you picked the two worst ones to get information out of. Just get rid of her. One less bitch to deal with when we ambush them, which still helps.”

“Just my luck,” the man sighed while advancing on Zoe with the knife in his hand.

Zoe was terrified. She tried to kick out again, but the man sidestepped her easily. Right as he was about to stab her, the door flew open with a deafening bang. Zoe cried out with relief when she saw Cordelia and Misty burst through the door. Misty was supporting a beat-up looking Madison, but Madison was very much alive. Unfortunately, her cry of relief turned to one of pain as the knife tore into her side.

“Zoe!” she heard from multiple people. Both men flew away from her instantly, but the damage had already been done. She winced in pain as her side protested any movement.

She saw her sister witches deal with the men who had hurt her and Madison as Cordelia, Misty, and Madison rushed toward her. Misty started working on getting the cuffs off her as fast as possible while Cordelia started examining her knife would. Madison looked pretty roughed up, but she wouldn’t leave Zoe’s side. Her hands were fluttering around Zoe’s face and she looked like she really didn’t know what she was supposed to do to help.

“I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Madison mumbled, tears running down her cheeks. Zoe didn’t think she had ever heard Madison apologize that much in her life. “It’s all my fault. They should have come for you first.”

“Not your fault,” Zoe said weakly. She felt her strength draining fast. Zoe tried to find Madison’s hand, but every movement seemed to take excessive effort. Luckily, Madison seemed to know what she needed, instantly squeezing her hand and kissing it softly.

Zoe’s eyes fluttered shut. It took way too much strength to keep them open, and she just couldn’t do it anymore. As the darkness started to take over, as she started to slip into unconsciousness, she heard Madison.

“Don’t leave me, not now. After everything, I don’t think I can handle losing you as well. Please don’t die. Please don’t leave me. I need you. I love you,” Madison sobbed. Even with everything Zoe and Madison had been through together, Zoe didn’t think she had ever heard Madison so raw.

“Love… you…” Zoe managed to say softly before the blood loss was too much and her eyes closed.

 

The first thing that registered was brightness. Before Zoe knew who or where she was, and even before she opened her eyes, she felt that everything was too bright. She cracked her eyes open, blinking hard. There was a lot of confusion in her mind about what had happened. Things started rushing back to her, making her sit up suddenly. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the best idea, as her head started swimming and sharp pain shot through her side.

“Madison!” Zoe gasped out, trying to ignore her pain. 

“Zoe,” a voice answered, but it wasn’t the voice Zoe was so desperately seeking. Zoe’s head turned to meet Cordelia’s warm gaze. “How are you feeling? You should lay back down,” Cordelia said, walking over to the side of Zoe’s bed.

“Where’s Madison?” Zoe asked, ignoring Cordelia’s instruction. She looked around the room frantically until her gaze settled on Madison’s form in the other bed.

“Madison is right there. She will be just fine as well, but I was forced to give her something to help her sleep, as she wouldn’t let us help her or leave you. Will you please lay back so I can examine your side?”

Having laid eyes on Madison, Zoe acquiesced and let Cordelia examine her. She was still worried about the blonde, especially if Cordelia had to give her something to basically knock her out, especially because she thought that could trigger some bad memories for Madison. It sounded like it had been necessary, but it still wasn’t ideal.

“What happened?” Zoe whispered. She remembered everything before she passed out, but she didn’t know what happened after that or why everything had gone down.

“It appears as though some witch hunters were after our Coven. We believe that they went after you and Madison to gather information about how to take us down. Luckily, we were able to stop them and bring you and Madison back to the academy. We were quite worried about you for a while, but you have stabilized nicely,” Cordelia explained, placing her hand on the top of Zoe’s head affectionately.

“What about Madison? I know you said she was going to be okay…” Zoe trailed off, looking over toward Madison again. Cordelia sighed before answering.

“From what we can tell, they hurt Madison pretty badly to try to get her to talk, but nothing life-threatening. They weren’t able to get anything out of her, which is why they moved on to you. Madison has closed off again, refusing to talk to us about anything that happened to her. She has been singularly focused on you since we rescued the two of you.”

“When will she wake up?” Zoe asked.

“Probably soon, but she, like you, needs to rest in order to heal,” Cordelia said before turning to face Misty, who had just entered the room.

“How ya feelin’, Zoe?” Misty asked. Misty grabbed both of Zoe’s hands gently, smiling at the younger witch.

“I’m okay. Thanks, Misty. And thank you both for rescuing us,” Zoe said.

“You’re our family, our coven. And we love both of you,” Cordelia responded, Misty nodding in agreement.

“Everyone else is okay?” Zoe asked, feeling slightly guilty that she hadn’t asked before.

“Yes, everyone is just fine. We’ll be more vigilant in the future, but it doesn’t seem like the people who took you learned anything that could hurt us,” Cordelia said.

Zoe suddenly felt drained once the feeling of relief wore off. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open, though she really wanted to stay awake, especially since she had just woken up.

“Sleep now. We’ll be here when ya wake,” Misty said, squeezing Zoe’s hand again. As much as she wanted to tell her no, Zoe felt her eyes closing of their own accord. She looked over at Madison again and saw that Cordelia was already making her way over to check on the girl. Zoe knew that she and Madison would be safe with Cordelia and Misty watching over them, so she let herself sink into the sleep her body desperately needed.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Eating disorders

Because of what had happened with the witch hunters, Zoe had expected a bit of tension and awkwardness around the house. She herself wasn’t really sure how to act or how to deal with everything that had happened. Cordelia and Misty had been so helpful in helping Zoe work through her emotions and thoughts, and she was so appreciative to them.

What Zoe hadn’t expected was how Madison was acting after their ordeal. Truthfully, Zoe was pretty mad about how Madison was acting. Madison had seemed to revert to the Madison Zoe met when she first came to Miss Robichaux’s Academy. She was bitchy, closed off, and completely detached from everything that had previously seemed important to her.

Why was Madison acting like that when Zoe needed her to be a supportive girlfriend? It was frustrating Zoe to no end.

When Zoe had recovered enough to really comprehend everything that was happening around her, Madison had already recovered enough to be out and about and her behavior had reverted. Madison’s behavior had made Zoe reluctant to talk to her, so she hadn’t really tried. Madison seemed to be avoiding Zoe, so Zoe followed suit, upset that Madison didn’t seem to care about how she was doing.

Keeping completely away from Madison was something that Zoe couldn’t do. They still shared the same room, though Madison never seemed to be there anymore. When Zoe went to bed and when she woke in the morning, Madison was gone. The only way Zoe knew Madison was in the room at all was when she heard the girl’s nightmares, which seemed to be increasing in frequency. She knew she should probably go comfort Madison, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. If Madison didn’t care about her, why should she care?

Zoe observed Madison throughout the day. It was like she couldn’t help herself. She was still so mad, but there was an invisible force pulling her to Madison. She even swore that she had felt Madison watching her, but every time she looked up, Madison was no longer looking at her.

The bags under Madison’s eyes were growing darker and her clothes were getting baggier. Zoe could tell that Madison was trying to hide all of that and that she was succeeding in hiding it from most people, but Zoe knew her too well to let Madison’s tricks fool her.

After a few more days of Madison’s tossing and turning and nightmares, Madison stopped coming to bed completely. Zoe wasn’t sure where she was at night, but it definitely wasn’t her problem. Madison wasn’t her problem. If she wanted to screw up her life, who was Zoe to say anything? Plus, Zoe should have slept much better without Madison constantly waking her up. She wouldn’t admit that she was having just as much trouble sleeping after Madison left, constantly wondering and worrying about the blonde.

The kitten Madison and Zoe had nursed back to health, Ember, was the only one Madison allowed to get close to her at all, and Zoe was pretty sure that was only because Ember didn’t give up until Madison had no choice.

Cordelia had tried to talk to Zoe a few times about Madison, but Zoe brushed her off each time. It wasn’t her problem. Not her problem. She had to push away her conscience a few times, but she was trying to recover from a trauma and she told herself that she couldn’t deal with Madison at the same time.

All Madison seemed to be doing was insulting people, smoking, drinking, and pushing people away as fast as possible. However, there was one night when Zoe woke up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water when she had heard Madison crying in the shower. Zoe almost cracked right then and there and went to go comfort Madison, but she held off. If Madison wanted her help, she was going to have to come talk to her.

Zoe was doing her best to reintegrate into the normal schedule. She went to all the activities, classes, and meals, which helped her get a sense of normalcy. The one person noticeably missing from all of these things was Madison. As time passed, Zoe started to miss what she and Madison once had, though it had only been a few weeks since they had been normal together.

There was one thing that pushed Zoe over the edge into talking to Madison. Madison had never eaten much before, and honestly, Zoe felt like she should have brought it up a long time ago, but it had never felt like the right time. Now, Madison had completely stopped eating, and Zoe knew she had to say something.

Finding Madison was tricky, but Zoe still knew where some of her favorite hiding places were. She waited until right before lunchtime to approach the blonde because she was hoping she would be able to convince Madison to at least come to the table with her.

“Hey,” Zoe said softly as she approached Madison. Madison hadn’t seemed to notice Zoe before she spoke, jumping in surprise.

“What do you want?” Madison spat with narrowed eyes.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to come to lunch with me,” Zoe replied, walking a little closer to her. Madison backed away as Zoe approached.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Madison, I haven’t seen you eat since…” Zoe trailed off, not sure what to call everything that had happened.

“Why do you care? It doesn’t concern you,” Madison replied with venom in her voice. She tried to escape past Zoe, but Zoe grabbed her wrist.

“I care about you, so I care about this. And you hurting yourself does concern me,” Zoe said while looking deep into Madison’s eyes. 

Madison averted her gaze and ripped her wrist out of Zoe’s grasp.

“You care about me?” she scoffed. “Yeah, right. And why now? Why not when I needed you right after all this shit happened? No, you’ve made everything perfectly clear. Just leave me alone, bitch,” Madison sneered, finally pushing past Zoe and leaving her all alone.

“Madison!” Zoe called after her, but she knew it was a lost cause. 

Madison’s words cut deep. Zoe was starting to realize that her previous expectation of Madison not being there for her was unreasonable, especially since Madison needed Zoe just as much as Zoe needed Madison, and Zoe hadn’t been there for Madison either.

Now that she had her epiphany, Zoe was concerned. Sure, they were both at fault, but she knew that Madison’s walls were going to be back at full strength. They might even be stronger than before because Madison didn’t seem to trust Zoe at the moment. Zoe knew that she had to try to extend an olive branch of peace and hope that Madison would take it so they could get over this obstacle.

Madison disappeared for the rest of the day, but Zoe didn’t stop looking. By the time Zoe found her, it was late. Almost everyone was in bed, but Madison was passed out in the living room with a couple of empty bottles around her. 

Zoe carefully picked up Madison’s small frame from where it was slumped on the floor. She almost cried at how much Madison’s bones stuck out, at how little the blonde weighed. Zoe kicked a few bottles out of the way before carefully walking upstairs and putting Madison down on her bed. She covered Madison with a blanket, brushing some hair out of Madison’s face. Ember hopped up on the bed, curling up carefully into Madison’s side. 

As much as Zoe wanted to get into bed and hold Madison, she knew it was a bad idea. They had many issues to address before they were at that point. She was also worried about how Madison would react to having someone in bed with her if she wasn’t expecting it. 

Zoe got ready for bed and climbed into her own bed after turning all the lights out. She knew she and Madison had a long, long way to go before they were back to where they were anywhere close to where they had been before, but she was willing to put in the work to get there. All she could do was hope Madison felt the same way.

The next thing Zoe knew, she was being woken by Madison crying out. She acted without thinking, going over to Madison’s bed and carefully stroking Madison’s head like she always used to. As Zoe woke up more, she wondered if she should be doing this, comforting Madison like nothing had happened. She decided that she would just do what she could to help, and if Madison didn’t want her right away, she would slow down but still be there for her.

Madison woke and sat up with a shuddering gasp, looking around wildly. After just a few seconds, she lunged forward, enveloping Zoe in a desperate grasp. She held on tightly, and Zoe could feel her shaking as she seemed to try to get as close to Zoe as possible. 

“Zoe, Zoe, Zoe,” Madison repeated desperately, clawing at Zoe’s back.

“I’m here,” Zoe replied, shifting so she was sitting as close to Madison as she could be. “I’m here.”

“You were dead, you were gone, I couldn’t save you,” Madison rambled, gasping for air. Her fists were balled up in Zoe’s shirt, keeping her close.

“No, Madison, I’m right here. I’m okay. We’re safe,” Zoe said, cupping Madison’s jaw with both hands.

“Please don’t leave. I don’t deserve it, but please don’t leave,” Madison whimpered, still not calmed down. Zoe sensed that she was talking about something deeper and more complicated than just the present moment. Madison hated weakness and hadn’t let Zoe or any of the others see any since they had been rescued, but it looked like she had finally cracked.

“I’m not going anywhere. You hear me? I’m not leaving you, Madi,” Zoe whispered, knowing she meant the words. After a few minutes, Madison’s breathing slowed to a normal rate, though her grip on Zoe didn’t loosen.

“I’m a monster,” Madison stated. “I’ve been so horrible to you. All of you, but especially you.” 

“It’s not just you. I should have been there for you too, but I was just too angry at the whole situation. I should have seen you struggling,” Zoe responded, squeezing her eyes tight. She felt Madison tense up.

“I’m so afraid of losing you,” Madison whispered, burying her face in Zoe’s neck and inhaling deeply. “I tried to push you away because I was getting too attached and I didn’t want it to hurt when you are gone, but I can’t do it anymore. You are too important. I can’t lose you. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Zoe said, repeating her words from earlier. “I’m sorry too. I don’t want to lose you either.”

As much as Zoe wanted to use this time where they were both being open to talk about Madison’s eating and other issues, she knew it wasn’t the right time. If she and Madison continued to stay open with each other and picked up where they were leaving off now, they would be able to work through everything with time.

Zoe shifted their position so they were laying down in Madison’s bed. Madison didn’t say anything else but continued to grasp Zoe tightly as Ember curled up next to Madison.

The minutes turned into hours, and the sun shone through the windows of the bedroom, but neither girl was able to fall back asleep. Zoe appreciated the quiet closeness of the moments, knowing that they had a lot of work ahead of them.

“I’ll be better,” Madison whispered as the house started to come alive. Zoe could hear noise from the downstairs, but she still didn’t move.

“You know we just worry because we care,” Zoe whispered back, rolling to face Madison. “I love you, and that’s all that matters.” She pressed a soft kiss to Madison’s forehead before getting out of bed and pulling on some normal clothes. “Let’s go downstairs. We can start there.”

Madison looked hesitant for just a moment before her face morphed into the confident mask Zoe was so familiar with. It was almost like Zoe getting out of bed had caused whatever vulnerability Madison had shown last night to evaporate. Madison also got out of bed and got dressed, studying herself in the mirror.

Zoe stepped up right next to her and held her hand out as an invitation to go downstairs.

“I’m not a kid,” Madison grumbled, brushing past Zoe and walking downstairs. Zoe sighed, but she was relieved that Madison was at least going downstairs.

Walking straight to the refrigerator, Zoe pulled it open and stared at the contents. What would be best to start with? She wasn’t sure what foods were best after periods of not eating, but she had seen Madison eat yogurt on occasion before, so she grabbed two.

Besides Madison, no one else was in the kitchen, which Zoe was thankful for. She grabbed two spoons on the way to the table where Madison was sitting and placed Madison’s yogurt in front of her.

Zoe didn’t say anything, simply opening her own yogurt and taking a small bite, purposefully not staring at Madison. After a couple more bites, Zoe heard Madison open her own yogurt.

Madison’s leg was jiggling subtly and she was stirring her yogurt constantly, but she eventually took a bite. It took another couple minutes, but another bite followed. It wasn’t enough, but it was something. After such an emotionally charged night, Zoe wasn’t going to push. As long as Madison made progress, that was enough for Zoe.

After a few more bites, Madison got up to throw the remainder of her breakfast away. Zoe followed suit.

“What are you doing today?” Madison asked, leaning against the counter. Zoe blinked in surprise, but didn’t let the question throw her off.

“I was just going to hang around here today. Do some reading, see if Cordelia needs help with anything,” Zoe said cautiously, barely daring to hope that Madison would be interested in spending part of the day with her.

“Sounds boring,” Madison sighed. “But maybe if you distract Cordy long enough, I can go and put up ‘Stevie Nicks sucks’ posters in her and Misty’s room.”

Zoe let a small laugh escape before schooling her expression. She couldn’t bring herself to chide Madison, as this was the first hint of normalcy she had seen in too long from her.

“Or maybe… maybe we could read something?” Zoe asked, thinking back to the days they had spent reading together.

“Okay,” Madison said, moving closer to Zoe. Honestly, Zoe was surprised that she had agreed with such little resistance.

“Okay,” Zoe said back, grinning. She knew things weren’t back to normal, or even close, but this was a good start.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mention of eating disorder recovery

Zoe was getting impatient. She and Madison had decided to go out for date night, but Madison was taking forever to get ready. Zoe had finished getting ready quite a while ago and was just waiting for Madison to finish.

“Come on, Madison, let’s go! We’re going to be late,” Zoe complained, looking over to where Madison was still getting ready.

“You can’t rush perfection,” Madison retorted, looking at Zoe in the mirror. Zoe stayed silent, not wanting to argue with Madison.

Thinking about how she didn’t want to sit there and wait any longer, Zoe decided to take matters into her own hands.

“Are you sure you even want to go?” Zoe asked, stepping closer to Madison. She came up behind the blonde and wrapped her arms around Madison’s waist. Resting her head on Madison’s shoulder, Zoe breathed into Madison’s ear.

“It would save a lot of time if we just skipped the dinner part,” she said, kissing Madison’s neck.

Madison leaned her head back to give Zoe better access before turning around to face her. She brought her arms up behind Zoe’s neck and kissed her. Zoe’s hands moved before she really thought about it, tangling in Madison’s hair.

“But I look so good. It would be a shame if the world didn’t get to see all this,” Madison said, pulling away from Zoe. “Plus, it’s just going to take longer if you mess up my hair,” she continued, running her hands through her hair to smooth it.

“Fine. Hurry up then!” 

Madison just smirked and turned back to the mirror. Though Zoe was acting a little huffy, she was actually thrilled that Madison still wanted to go out to dinner. She was working so hard at overcoming her eating disorder, and Zoe was extremely proud. 

Now though, Zoe could have sworn that Madison was intentionally trying to make her wait. Madison looked like she was ready, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for the blonde. To make things worse, Madison kept doing the little things she knew made Zoe usually drop everything and kiss her. The teasing was definitely getting to Zoe, but all it did was make Zoe want to skip dinner even more so they could stay home.

“Madison,” Zoe said in a low tone, stepping closer to her.

“Zoe,” Madison deadpanned.

“You- you need to stop, or else we’ll never get there on time,” Zoe said, stumbling over her words. She honestly wasn’t sure if she was telling Madison to stop teasing her or to stop taking so long to get ready. 

After putting her lipstick on, Madison snapped the lipstick tube shut and turned to face Zoe.

“Fine. I’m ready,” she retorted, walking up to Zoe.

“Finally.”

As much as Zoe complained about it, she had to admit that Madison looked really good. So good that Zoe couldn’t just leave without kissing her. She leaned over and kissed Madison softly, but it didn’t take long before the kiss deepened. Zoe pushed Madison up against the wall, keeping her in place.

“I thought we had to leave,” Madison said breathlessly when Zoe’s mouth moved to her neck.

“We do,” Zoe said, pulling away after a few more moments.

“Ugh, you can’t do that to me,” Madison whined, still catching her breath.

“It’s not my fault,” Zoe huffed. ““You’re the one who didn’t want to just stay home and you had to look all perfect.”

“I’m seriously reconsidering. And I love you, but if you mess my hair up again, I’m going to have to rip your arms off.”

Zoe blushed. Her hands always seemed to find themselves in Madison’s hair when they were making out, and tonight was no exception.

“Sorry.”

“It’s definitely your fault if we’re late.”

Zoe rolled her eyes but didn’t bother arguing. It would just make them later, and she knew she wouldn’t win against Madison.

“Fine. Can we please go now?” Zoe asked, grabbing Madison’s hand and pulling her out the door without waiting for a response.

“Wow, pushy much?” Madison grumbled but let herself be pulled along by Zoe without any struggle.

Ready to finally get going, Zoe rushed the two of them out the door and into the car. They made pretty good time to the restaurant, and though they were pretty late, Madison flashed the host a smile, which got them seated almost immediately.

“See, it was totally fine,” Madison said, looking pointedly at Zoe.

“Yeah, whatever. Next time I’m leaving without you.”

“You wouldn’t dare. Besides, who would possibly want to leave this hotness at home?”

“You’re always so humble. But I guess I’ll stick with you. At least my life is never boring when you’re around,” Zoe responded, smiling at Madison.

“Hell yes. And don’t forget it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Zoe studied Madison carefully during their conversation. She was so glad that Madison had a spark back in her eyes. Madison looked much, much better now than she had during the last weeks, and Zoe was relieved. It had scared Zoe how much Madison had retreated and reverted, but both of them were doing better than before.

Things were not completely back to normal between the two of them, but they were almost there. Zoe still felt guilty about how she had handled everything, and though Madison would never admit it, Zoe was pretty sure that she also felt guilty. After everything, they were stronger together, and Zoe wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

Madison had also been doing much better with eating. It was by no means an easy road, and there were definitely bad days, but Zoe saw how much work Madison was putting in and how much progress she was making.

They ordered their food and made small talk until their food came. Zoe tried to make it look like she wasn’t watching Madison carefully as they were eating, but it was hard. She only wanted to support Madison, but she was afraid that she would push the blonde further back if she was too obvious. Luckily, Madison either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and did well with the meal.

The waitress came to ask if they wanted any dessert, but before Zoe could say anything, Madison spoke up.

“I’d much rather go back and finish what we started before we left,” she said, practically undressing Zoe with her gaze.

The waitress turned a bright shade of red immediately and started babbling something about getting their check before turning and almost running back to the kitchen.

“Madison, you didn’t have to scar the poor girl. What is she, like 16?”

“She’s fine. Besides, now she’ll hurry up because she wants us out of here, which will get us home faster.”

“Well, that is one plus,” Zoe agreed, just as eager as Madison to continue their previous activities. She was excited to mess up Madison’s hair as much as possible, knowing that Madison would be much too occupied by other things to complain about her hair.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mention of eating disorder recovery

“Madi! Madi!” Zoe said, climbing on Madison’s bed and poking her in the side. “Come on, wake up! It’s Christmas!”

“Christmas can go suck it,” Madison said sleepily, rolling over and attempting to kick Zoe off her bed.

“No, you have to get up!”

“No,” Madison whined, pulling the covers over her head. Ember was dislodged by the action and meowed in annoyance as she jumped off the bed, leaving Zoe with the task of getting Madison out of bed.

“Fine, you asked for it.”

Zoe pulled all the covers off Madison’s bed and picked the small girl up. Madison shrieked and started kicking, but Zoe held on tight until they made it into the bathroom. She set Madison down carefully and walked back out into the bedroom.

“Hurry up! We have stuff to do!” she called to Madison as she left. She heard Madison groan, but there was no other audible complaint.

Though she was already dressed, Zoe didn’t want to leave the bedroom in case Madison decided to go right back to bed when she was done in the bathroom. Zoe wasn’t really sure what to expect from this Christmas with Madison. They had been through a lot throughout the year, but Zoe was hoping that it would be a nice holiday free of drama.

The house was already decorated for the holidays, and everyone had seemed excited by the idea of Christmas when they had gone to bed the night before. They had all had a white elephant gift exchange on Christmas Eve, and Madison completely ignored the price limit and grumbled about the present she had ended up with. Even so, Zoe saw her put the candle she got on her nightstand where she had a few important things displayed instead of the trash like she had threatened.

Zoe shook herself from her thoughts when Madison exited the bathroom. Although Madison usually took forever to get ready, she could also get ready relatively quickly when she wanted to. Today luckily seemed to be one of those days when she wanted to be ready fast.

“So are we going downstairs or are we just going to sit in here and listen to all the screams of terror when people unwrap the creepy crawlies I put in all the presents last night.”

“You didn’t,” Zoe said, narrowing her eyes at Madison. 

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” Madison replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

She could never be sure with Madison, but Zoe didn’t think that Madison had actually tampered with any of the presents.

“Mads,” Zoe chided, leaning in to kiss Madison softly. “Let’s go downstairs. It’s Christmas! There are so many things to do.”

“Can’t wait.”

The sarcasm was evident in Madison’s voice, but Zoe could detect a glimmer of excitement in her eyes as they exited their room.

For it being Christmas morning, the academy was pretty deserted. They were the only ones in the kitchen when they went downstairs.

“Do you want a cinnamon roll?” Zoe asked, looking at the options for breakfast.

“I don’t think I can handle that,” Madison said softly, avoiding Zoe’s gaze.

“Hey. That’s okay,” Zoe said, lifting Madison’s chin so she was looking in her eyes. “What would you like?”

“Maybe some fruit. I’ll try something else later. I promise I’m trying.” 

“I know. I know you are. You’re doing great.” 

Zoe tried to let her support show over her concern, but she wasn’t sure how successful she was. She knew how difficult the holidays could be for people recovering from and struggling with eating disorders, and though Madison didn’t let much of her struggle show, Zoe knew it affected her too. Madison was doing well though, and Zoe was proud of her.

Setting both of their breakfasts down, Zoe sat next to Madison.

“So, Merry Christmas!”

“You’ve said,” Madison said drily.

“No, I said it was Christmas. Now I’m wishing you Merry Christmas. There’s a difference!”

“Okay, Merry Christmas,” Madison responded, hiding a small smile.

“Is there anything special you want to do today?”

“I don’t know. What do you usually do on Christmas?”

“I thought we could make a gingerbread house and watch a Christmas movie before we open presents. And we can see if anyone else has any ideas. What do you usually do on Christmas? Any traditions?” Zoe asked Madison right back.

“Sounds fun,” Madison admitted. “We never had any traditions. We didn’t really celebrate Christmas as a family.”

“What?” Zoe asked, flabbergasted. “Not at all?”

“Nope. The assholes who raised me usually went to a party they were only invited to because of me, so there wasn’t too much time for family.”

“What about Santa? Or Christmas cookies?”

“No. But it didn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters! We’ll just have to make our own traditions, okay?”

Zoe felt a pang of deep sadness at Madison’s words. She was even more determined to make Madison feel special and loved on Christmas now that she heard all that. She grabbed Madison’s hand and squeezed it, trying to put all of her emotions into that squeeze.

Madison gave Zoe’s hand a brief squeeze back and cleared her throat, pulling away.

“Can we at least make it a gingerbread mansion instead of a gingerbread house?”

“Whatever you want, Madi,” Zoe said, smiling.

“Good.”

All the sudden, the sound of pounding footsteps reached Zoe’s ears. She grinned at Madison, who groaned when the other girls entered the kitchen. Zoe greeted everyone and wished them a Merry Christmas before she and Madison walked into the living room.

The kitchen was bound to be a busy place on Christmas day, and though Zoe was planning on building a gingerbread house with Madison and helping with the cooking later, she thought it would be best to leave the others to their breakfast in peace.

“What movie are we watching?” Madison asked, plopping down on the sofa.

“You know I actually mean watching the movie this time, not just making out,” Zoe said, looking over at Madison. Madison pouted but nodded.

“We’re going to watch Christmas Vacation. It’s a classic.”

“I know what it is. I worked in Hollywood, remember?” Madison huffed.

“Right.”

Zoe settled in next to Madison on the sofa. Madison only tried to make a move on Zoe a few times, but Zoe put an end to that pretty quickly. As much as she wanted to let Madison do whatever she wanted with her, Zoe knew that it was Christmas and that the others were just around the corner.

“Stop, stop, we’ll have plenty of time for that later, when we’re alone,” Zoe said, pushing Madison’s hands away.

“You’re no fun.”

They made it through the rest of the movie without incident, partially because Misty and some of the others joined them as the movie went on. Misty was horrified by the treatment of some of the animals in the movie and left right after a particularly gruesome part with the cat, but everyone else stuck around until the end.

“I feel bad. Maybe we should go check on Misty,” Zoe said after the credits rolled.

“I’m sure Cordelia is making her feel all better,” she said, and Zoe had to pull her hand down, knowing she was about to make an inappropriate gesture.

“Madison!”

“What?”

Zoe just sighed, letting it go. Especially on Christmas, she was going to pick and choose her battles carefully.

“I think we should have just enough time to finish our gingerbread mansions before we start cooking dinner,” Zoe said, looking at the clock.

“So, what are you waiting for?” Madison asked, walking into the kitchen. Though Zoe could tell she was trying not to let it show, she could see that Madison was excited.

Laughing at Madison’s excitement, Zoe followed her into the kitchen. As she was entering, she could hear Madison talking to Misty. She was absolutely shocked at what she heard come out of Madison’s mouth.

“Sorry if that movie hit a nerve. I know you hate that kind of stuff. If you want, Zoe and I are going to make gingerbread houses.”

“Are ya askin’ me to join?” Misty asked, sounding incredulous.

“We would love to have you join us,” Zoe said, walking over to both of them.

Misty’s eyes glistened, and she nodded quickly.

“I’d love to! Can we ask Delia too?”

“Ask Delia what?” Cordelia asked, walking through the door.

“We’re makin’ gingerbread houses,” Misty gushed. “Will ya make one with me?”

Cordelia’s gaze softened noticeably.

“Of course,” she said, walking over to Misty.

“Oh, goody, the gang’s all together,” Madison muttered, but the smile she was wearing negated her tone.

Zoe knew that it would have been an absolute nightmare to make the gingerbread for the houses, so she bought some kits in advance. Grabbing the gingerbread, icing, and lots of candy from the pantry, she put all of the supplies out on the counter.

Madison immediately started hoarding candy, actually growling at Misty when she had tried to take a candy Madison had her eye on. Misty, Cordelia, and Zoe had much calmer approaches to putting their gingerbread houses together. 

By the time the gingerbread houses had been assembled, Zoe was pretty sure Misty had consumed as much candy as had ended up on her and Cordelia’s house. Misty had claimed that she had to make sure all the candy went together, whatever that meant. Madison had only thrown three mini temper tantrums, which Zoe counted as a success, especially since she had stuck it out until the end. Zoe and Madison both had icing all over, but both of their houses were mostly intact.

Misty and Cordelia were building one together, and it looked like a nice, sensible gingerbread house. There were parts that were slightly falling apart, but overall, it was a nice effort. Zoe’s house was slightly less put together, but it had more decorations. She was pleased at the result, even if it was more difficult than she had remembered. 

Zoe had to hold back a laugh at Madison’s house/mansion. It was definitely big enough to be called a mansion, and though the roof was partially caved in, there was so much candy decorating the place that the mistakes were easily overlooked. It was possibly a little overdone, but it somehow worked. Madison had really done a nice job decorating. Zoe figured it had something to do with how she enjoyed fashion and those kinds of things.

“So, do we eat ‘em?” Misty asked.

“Yours looks great! I thought we could leave them out as decorations. What do you think, Cordelia?” Zoe answered.

“That sounds lovely. Maybe some of the other girls will want to build gingerbread houses as well and add them to the collection.”

“Well, mine is going in the front,” Madison announced, pushing her gingerbread house in front of the other houses. “It obviously looks the best.”

Zoe ignored her, rearranging the houses so they were all in line with each other.

“They all look great. These will be perfect decorations.” 

After cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Zoe and Madison migrated back into the living room. Zoe moved to walk past Madison, but Madison caught her arm gently.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“For what?”

“Everything. But especially making sure that I have all of these memories and experiences to look back on.”

Zoe smiled brightly, leaning in to kiss Madison.

“Thank you for going along with everything. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Zoe.”


	23. Chapter 23

“So, what are we doing today?”

“Madison, it’s like, way too early for this. You hate getting up early. Why are you even awake?”

“Stop yawning.”

“No. Go back to sleep,” Zoe mumbled, grabbing Madison’s arm and pulling her into bed with her. Madison had been standing right over Zoe’s bed, which gave Zoe the perfect angle for that.

Madison squeaked in surprise but didn’t fight it, instead snuggling into Zoe. Zoe fell asleep again, only waking when Ember’s tail brushed against her face. She opened her eyes, gazing at Madison’s sleeping form.

Peaceful was the first word that sprung to Zoe’s mind. Even when she was sleeping, Madison didn’t always look peaceful or rested, so it made Zoe happy to see Madison the way she was. She was planning on letting Madison sleep as long as she could, but some unseen force seemed to open Madison’s eyes as Zoe was studying her.

“What?” Madison asked, not making any move to get up.

“Nothing! Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“How lucky I am to have found you.”

“Shut up,” Madison grumbled, pushing Zoe a little bit.

“No, I’m serious. You have made my life so much better by being part of it,” Zoe responded, making sure Madison was looking in her eyes to show how serious she was.

“Well, that’s nothing compared to how lucky I’ve been with you. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

“I guess we both got lucky,” Zoe conceded.

“You’re going to be the one who gets lucky if you keep talking like that,” Madison said, leaning over to kiss Zoe deeply.

“As much as I would love that, we do have things to do today.”

“That’s not what you said this morning,” Madison said, whining. “What if we’re quick?”

“Later,” Zoe whispered, pulling away and getting out of bed. 

“Well, what are we doing today, if it’s so important?” Madison asked.

“What do you want to do?”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“Well, I might have something planned,” Zoe smirked.

Madison huffed, seemingly annoyed because Zoe wouldn’t tell her anything.

“Okay, I don’t actually have anything big or exciting planned. I just thought it would be nice to get out and explore the city with you,” Zoe said, caving.

“Then we definitely have time to finish what we started,” Madison said, starting to take her pajamas off.

“Later,” Zoe said, disappearing into the bathroom to get ready. She let out a small laugh when she heard Madison groan.

After finishing getting ready, Zoe reappeared in the bedroom. She sat and played with Ember until Madison was all dressed.

“I hope you’re planning on making this up to me later,” Madison said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Promise,” Zoe breathed, kissing Madison again.

Zoe and Madison heard voices as they went downstairs, and Zoe automatically gravitated to the area where everyone was.

“Good morning!” Zoe greeted cheerfully. Madison let out a much less exuberant greeting.

They were greeted by the other girls, but they didn’t linger long. Although Zoe had no timetable for the day, she still wanted to get going before too much of the day was gone.

It didn’t take long before Zoe and Madison made their way into the city. True to her word, Zoe didn’t have anything planned, so they just wandered around wherever looked interesting. After stopping in a few small shops, they went to the Sculpture Garden.

Zoe wasn’t completely sure if Madison would be as interested in all the sculptures as she was, but she was willing to take a chance. Plus, it was something interesting that she had never done before, so she really wanted to see all of the cool sculptures. If Madison wanted to complain, she could. Zoe would just make it up to her later.

“What is going on with this thing?” Madison asked, looking at a particularly abstract sculpture.

“Um, I have no idea,” Zoe responded, cocking her head to see if a different angle would help her figure out what it was supposed to be. It didn’t.

“That one has a big butt.”

There were actually some very interesting statues, and the girls spent a large chunk of time exploring everything. Eventually, the sun started to set, so Zoe decided that it was probably time for them to head back.

“So, those were weird. But also kind of cool,” Madison said as they were on their way back. “I hate to admit it, but you do have good ideas sometimes. I think I’m having a good influence on you and your taste.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re not so bad all the time.”

“What a glowing compliment.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Zoe said, elbowing Madison playfully.

“You knew what you were getting yourself into.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Such a softie,” Madison scoffed, but she was smiling.

“I’m your softie.”

“Don’t you forget it.”

When they got back to the academy, they quickly escaped upstairs. Though they both had the promise of earlier on their minds, they ended up lying on Zoe’s bed together for a while, just talking.

Zoe lived for these sweet moments with no pressure, no problems, and no evil. These were the moments when they were just two people in love. They were happy and free. Zoe hadn’t been through even a fraction of all the bad things that had happened to Madison in her life, but Zoe was able to forget the bad things that had happened to her when she and Madison were in each other’s arms, and she strongly believed that Madison was more relaxed than usual too.

Zoe smiled, seeing that Ember was curled up on Madison’s stomach, and Madison was stroking her absentmindedly. Zoe thought that nursing Ember back to life had been really good for Madison, and now, the two had an unbreakable bond.

After a while talking, Madison stopped responding to Zoe’s questions. Zoe looked over to see that Madison had fallen asleep. She probably needed it, so Zoe didn’t wake her. Though Madison’s nightmares had started to decrease in frequency, she still had them on a regular basis, and Zoe didn’t think she slept well in general.

Knowing that they had plenty of time together when they woke up, Zoe closed her eyes, deciding that it would be a perfect time to take a nap as well. It had been a great day with Madison, and Zoe was so happy to be able to spend more time with her.


	24. Chapter 24

Zoe sighed as she twisted a strand of hair between her fingers. Today wasn’t a bad day, per se, but it was just so ordinary. Nothing special had happened at all, which kind of bummed her out. She had barely even seen the other girls. It was like they had all disappeared into their own worlds.

She had been relatively distracted all day, but had still managed to get all of her work done on time. Cordelia had gone off on a tangent about something or other that Zoe would usually find fascinating, but it lacked the depth to keep her interested that day. Her mind had been wandering since she first woke up.

Wandering into her room, she flopped down on her bed. There wasn’t much time before dinner, so she didn’t really have enough time to do much. Rolling over to grab the book on her nightstand, she felt something crinkle on the bed. Scrunching her brow in confusion, Zoe fished under her shoulder for the source. A folded piece of paper was the culprit, and Zoe was intrigued to say the least. Unfolding it, she took a deep breath as her heart sped up.

“Meet me in the backyard,” was the simple message, but Zoe was excited by what it could lead to.

Hurrying downstairs, Zoe let out a gasp when she saw the backyard. It had been decorated with fairy lights, and there was a blanket with a picnic basket in the middle of the yard. It was beautiful, especially with the sunset in the sky. 

“Happy birthday, Zoe,” Madison said, stepping out from behind a tree, holding a small box.

“You remembered!” Zoe exclaimed. 

She rushed forward and hugged Madison tightly, shocked and elated that Madison had gone out of her way to make it special for her. Some people might be shocked to hear that Madison had a heart and would actually do this for someone else, but Zoe knew better.

“Of course, I did! I love you,” Madison said, lowering her eyes and voice at the last part. No matter how many times Zoe said it back, she always felt like Madison was afraid of being rejected when she told Zoe she loved her.

“I… I wanted to make sure you know how special you are and how much you mean to me, even if I don’t say it enough,” Madison continued, tugging Zoe toward the blanket.

“Madison, it’s beautiful!”

“You’re beautiful,” Madison smiled, kissing Zoe softly.

Zoe became acutely aware of the warm and fuzzy happiness that always seemed to spread throughout her whole being when Madison let her true self shine through. Madison still acted bitchy to people she didn’t trust or particularly like, but it seemed like her time with Zoe had really helped bring the kind Madison to the surface at times. She was never going to go around hugging everyone or singing songs with them, but Zoe had noticed her doing small things to help others.

Settling down on the blanket, Madison started pulling dinner out of the basket. She had actually thought of everything, and Zoe had to admit that she would much rather be out in the beautiful backyard with Madison than eating dinner with everyone else. Today was her special day, and if Cordelia wanted to get mad at them for skipping their regular meal, she would just have to deal with it later.

This was even better than the sort of thing Zoe had been hoping for on her birthday, but she couldn’t help but feel a little bad. She had felt sorry for herself that no one had seemed to care enough to remember her birthday, but she supposed she had to understand that they were busy. Cordelia certainly had her hands full, and she wasn’t overly close to anyone else at the school. 

Madison, though, had gone absolutely over and beyond anything Zoe had expected. The people she had really wanted to hear wish her a happy birthday were her parents. They were probably busy doing… something, or their card had gotten lost in the mail, or something. She couldn’t dwell on that.

Zoe dug into the food that Madison had packed while Madison picked at a couple of things. The evening was so perfect, but the thought of her parents was still nagging at the back of her mind. Madison glanced over, staring at her for a moment. It was almost like she could tell that Zoe was overthinking something.

“Now what has your panties in a bunch?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. “I’m sure Cordy won’t care what we are doing. Hell, she probably hasn’t even noticed we’re gone.”

“No, it’s nothing,” Zoe insisted, pushing a smile onto her face.

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” Madison retorted. “Is it because no one else remembered it was your birthday? I probably should have told the others, but I was selfish and wanted to make sure no one else took your evening.”

“No, no, that’s fine. I’m so happy that I get to spend this time with just you. I guess… well, I was really hoping to hear something from my parents,” Zoe frowned, feeling more upset than she had originally thought. “I mean, how hard is it to pick up the damn phone or write me a letter every once in a while, especially on a day like today? It’s like as soon as I came here, they didn’t have to deal with me anymore.”

Zoe looked up at Madison, feeling slightly guilty when she saw a dark look flash across her face. She realized that Madison probably understood more about her parental problems than she had thought. She didn’t think Madison’s parents had thought twice about anything except Madison’s money for a very long time.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be complaining about something as stupid as that when you made this wonderful evening for me,” Zoe said, grabbing Madison’s hand.

“No, it’s not stupid if it makes you feel bad. Parents are dumb, and no one should treat you the way they are. You don’t need those asses, but it does suck.” Madison sucked in a deep breath, holding both of Zoe’s hands with hers. 

“I know I’m not always the easiest person to be with, but I need you to know that for me, you’re it. From the very beginning, it’s always been you. You believed in me more than anyone ever has. You stuck by my side through the bad and good, and you don’t expect anything from me. I am so in love with you. It scares me, but at the same time, I don’t feel scared. Being with you makes me feel invincible. We’ve been through so much, and you just prove to me over and over how wonderful you are.” 

Leaning over slightly, Madison breathed, “You’re so amazing.” Zoe pulled her on her lap, and Madison kissed her deeply, the picnic forgotten about. By now, the sun had mostly set, and they stayed there in the dusk, kissing each other and enjoying each other’s company.

Eventually, Madison rolled off of Zoe, and Zoe pulled Madison into her side. Zoe couldn’t help but think about how lucky she was. Sure, it hadn’t always been easy, but she knew that this was the right path for her. Being with Madison made her other worries disappear, and she felt extremely content. They stayed right where they were, watching the stars and talking until the early hours of the morning.

“I suppose we should go in before Cordelia has a fit,” Madison said, rolling her eyes. Zoe hummed her agreement, but didn’t make any move to get up.

Kissing her one more time, Madison sat up and reached for the package she had set down earlier. Holding it out, Madison smiled at Zoe.

“Happy birthday. I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to everyone who has read this story, left kudos, or left comments! I can’t tell you how much all of your support meant while I was writing my first ever work. I hope you all enjoyed the story and that you have a happy 2019!


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